


Thank God For Tumblr

by Itch, Trustyourdragons



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Anal Sex, Angst, Blindfolds, Cuddling, Fingering, First Kiss, Fluff, Glasses, Hair Pulling, Happy Ending, Light Bondage, M/M, MORE TO COME AS FIC IS UPDATED, Panic Attacks, Pining, Ponytails, Rough Sex, Smut, Temporary Character Death, Tumblr, accidental crush admittance, angel! Gabriel, anons - Freeform, but not in graphic detail, depressed!gabriel, jealous waitress, mention of abusive parenting, mentions of rape/non con, nightmars, oversized hoodies, parent!sabriel, sam is the waitress whisperer, suicide attempts (multiple), synergy - Freeform, the origin of synergy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2016-02-22
Packaged: 2018-05-07 08:08:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 31,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5449454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Itch/pseuds/Itch, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trustyourdragons/pseuds/Trustyourdragons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabriel and Sam are friends, and they go to the same school. Gabriel has had a crush on Sam for god knows how long, but the sugar obsessed kid has had no way of telling Sam this because well... in his head, why would Sam like him back?<br/>Then Charlie gives Sam Gabriel's tumblr URL. A few anons later and their lives begin to entwine and become one. </p><p>This is a story about two kids to find each other, one in the dark looking for light, and the other looking for someone to love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. sweetshopanqels.tumblr.com

**Author's Note:**

> Quick Note!!  
> Both me and Abbie are from the UK; therefore the legal age of consent here is 16. Sam and Gabriel in this are about 17, hence why there is no under-age warning because where we're from? There is no issue.

Sam leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes for a moment and stretching. He'd been on his laptop for a few hours at that point, gathering material for an essay that was due in a week or so. Charlie had just about reminded him in time to actually write it, but it would've been nice to get it done earlier.

Sam needed a break. His neck was aching and he hadn't had a drink all day, since he'd been in such a panic to get the essay at least up and running when he got back from school.

Something kept nagging him at the back of his mind - Charlie had given him Gabriel's Tumblr url and he was itching to take a look at his blog. They'd been friends for a long time, Gabriel and Sam, and it was just his damn luck that he'd end up with a crush on his friend. Charlie guessed that crush way before anybody else did, and she'd been annoying him with stuff like this for months.

The url, though - it was interesting, to say the least. Sam hesitated for a moment before typing _'sweetshopanqels.tumblr.com'_ into the search bar.

 

Gabriel was sat at his computer too, typing out a new blog post for _'sweetshopanqels'_. His latest one has described, in agonising detail the way that his crush had smelt of apple pie and cinnamon when they last hugged. He and Sam had only really hugged because Gabriel had gotten a good grade on his essay for Home Ec and he was very pleased about it. The one he was writing today was about the soft grey plaid Sam had worn today at school, a shirt Gabriel had recognised as the one he'd bought Sam for Christmas.

"I didn't even think he'd kept the shirt." he typed before clicking post. He leant back in his chair, running his hands through his hair. He was glad Sam didn't seem to know about the blog. If Sam ever found out, he assumed he'd stop being friends with him, because who wouldn't? It seemed odd, and stalkerish in a way, though that wasn't how Gabriel _wanted_ it to sound.

 

Sam blinked when the page loaded up. And blinked again.

There were scattered pictures of sweets and delicious-looking foods - Sam hovered over a few and most of the tags were just 'WANT' in capital letters - and there were a lot of very detailed paragraphs. About somebody - about Gabriel's crush? Oh, man.

Sam bit his lip. This felt like he was intruding on something private - Gabriel hadn't even told him that he was crushing on anybody. That was a little... hurtful. Even with Sam's crush on Gabriel, he could've sworn they were close enough to not keep secrets.

Sam couldn't help himself but to read some of the paragraphs. It was just... a curiosity he couldn't help but succumb to. Who managed to steal Gabe's heart like that?

Sam skimmed a few lines, about how they smelled like apple pie and cinnamon - the detail was excruciating, as if he couldn't stop gushing about this girl or whoever. He tried not to be jealous and refreshed the page, only to see a new, extensive post. About... plaid. Plaid that Gabe had bought his crush last... Last Christmas.

Sam froze. He - what? That couldn't be right.

 

Gabriel went back to his dashboard, drooling over photos of lollipops and the sour rainbow strips he loved so much. As he reblogged things, his mind wandered to Sam, and how it would be quite scary if Sam actually found out about his crush. Would Sam stop being friends with him if he found out? Probably, who wants a best friend who's got a huge crush on them! He shoved the thoughts out of his head before he made himself feel sad.

He stared at a picture of a shirtless man with a plaid shirt round his waist for a good ten minutes before clicking off Tumblr to Facebook. Did Sam have a Tumblr? Maybe. But if he did, there was no way he'd be able to find Gabriel's blog right? There was nothing linking him to it, not even a name.

 

Sam started reading the posts properly, hyper aware of any hint that might indicate who the crush was. He was getting hopeful, but he was determined to quell that hope. Gabriel wasn't talking about him, he couldn't be. Hell, for all he knew, Gabe was straight as a ruler.

It didn't help that the post he's just posted was about his crush wearing plaid exceedingly similar to the plaid he was wearing right then. Sam even remembered getting the shirt from Gabe. He'd loved it immediately, but he didn't wear it too often. He was prone to rips and tears, after all.

The further the scrolled through the blog, the higher his hopes were driven. It all seemed to point towards Gabe's crush being him, but that wasn't possible. That wasn't a thing. Winchesters don't get that kind of thing, Dean always told him that.

He could still do one thing. Carefully avoiding the follow button, he clicked the 'ask me anything!' button and switched to anon. He typed the message 'Whoever your crush is, they're very lucky.' and pressed send. He was very careful about the pronouns.

Just in case.

 

Facebook was dull, Gabe decided, after seeing yet another holiday post from his fraternal twin Lucifer who was living it up in Hawaii, before going back to Tumblr. If all else failed he'd just go into the red panda tag and treat his followers (all 132 of them) to a spam of his favourite animal. As he refreshed the blogging website, a small 1 popped up above the envelope in the corner. He had a message. He clicked on it and felt his heart freeze up.

"Whoever your crush is, they're very lucky."

He swallowed and checked over his shoulder as a precaution. The only people home were him and his cat Alfie, but he sometimes he thought Alfie knew way more than the cat let on. He clicked on answer, and slowly and carefully typed out a reply.

"I guess. They don't know that I like them though, I'm too shy to tell him. Plus I'm pretty sure they won't like me back." he hit post.

 

Sam made himself do ten more minutes of research and organising before he allowed himself to refresh Gabriel's blog again, to be greeted with an answered message, along with several red pandas - Gabe's favourite animal, Sam thought with a little smile. His heart skipped a little as he read the answer.

"I guess. They don't know that I like them though, I'm too shy to tell him. Plus I'm pretty sure they won't like me back." Sam huffed in irritation - how couldn't he see it? How amazing he was? Anybody he was crushing on would be the luckiest person in the world.

Also, a voice at the back of his mind spoke, _he's certainly not as straight as you thought_. Sam pushed that thought back.

"Bullshit. Whoever you're crushing on would be the luckiest person in the world, if you just told them. You're amazing - just say something to them." Sam reread the message, and thought better of it. He deleted the message and instead typed, "Why wouldn't they like you back?" and clicked send.

 

He saw the message as it popped up, just staring at the pictures of the Siamese kittens. He clicked on it instantly, reading it.

"Why wouldn't they like you back?"

He typed quickly. "Because I'm not good enough for him anon, he's perfect. He's tall and athletic and cute and his hair is amazing and he always smells good like apple pie and cinnamon, and I'm just this guy he knows and he doesn't even know I like him." He hit post before thinking about what he was saying. He angrily scrolled down the dash, reblogging as many sweets and cats as he could.

 

Sam didn't even bother to stop himself from refreshing the page every ten seconds to see the answer, and it popped up in around a minute. He read the message through, again and again, until basically every word was ingrained in his mind. He didn't have a fitting response, none at all, so all he could really do was try and hint at him when they were at school. He felt it would be rude to not send an anon in response, however, so he typed out a quick "Well, it's your life, and you deserve to be happy. I say you go for it."

He closed his laptop immediately after he clicked send and retreated to bed. He didn't want to stay up too late, and he was both looking forward to and dreading seeing Gabriel the next day. He couldn't get rid of the hope that had flared up in his chest. He didn't want to.

 

Gabe stared at the newest anon, heart fluttering softly in his chest. The anon thought he should go for it. Maybe he should tell Sam how he felt. He closed the laptop before going to find Alfie, picking up the ginger cat and cuddling him.

"I think I'm gonna tell Sam Alfie." he mumbled into his fur, his cat purring against his chest as a response. As he went into his bedroom, he grabbed his phone, sending Sam a text.

_> Samsquatch, you got classes tomorrow right?_

Sam jumped at the sound of the text and flinched at the bright light of his phone screen - he'd already been trying to sleep. His heart leaped when he saw that the text was from Gabe. He typed out a response as quickly as possible.

_Uh, yeah. Usual Thursday schedule. Why?_   < he tapped out and sent the message, locking his phone and holding it to his chest. He stared at the ceiling absently, waiting for Gabe's reply. He wondered if he had seen that anon. Even the thought made him either want to die or melt into a puddle on the floor. He was still very much doubting that Gabe's crush was even him.

The text came back really quickly, and he tapped out the reply just as quickly as it had come back.

> _We should go have lunch together, I found a really cool café yesterday._ he hit send before he could regret it and burrowed into the blankets on his bed. Gabriel was a strange 18 year old, his bed was made up of at least 12 blankets, a handful of pillows and two stuffed teddy bears, which he made into a nest he slept is. His phone was resting on the bedside table and he stared at it, watching for another text from Sam. This was a date. _Gabriel had asked Sam out on a date._

 

Sam's breath caught in his throat when he read the text. If he didn't know any better, Gabriel was going for it. Like he'd said in the anon. Sam took a minute to process that. It was way too much of a coincidence - was he...?

_If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were asking me out on a date._ < Sam wasn't sure whether to send the message or not, and after reading it five times over, he decided not to.

Apparently his thumb thought otherwise, because he'd accidentally hit send rather than backspace. He swore and endeavoured to send another very fast text.

_Definitely in, though. Sounds fun!_ < He turned the phone off again, a concoction of self-loathing and embarrassment settling in his stomach.

 

The phone screen lit it and Gabe went for it, missing the bedside table and falling off the bed with a thud, dragging the blankets with him. As he picked himself up, he checked the texts. Sam had said it sounded like a date. HE KNEW! Gabe blushed before typing back

> _We go to lunch together all the time, if this time is a date doesn't that mean we've been on tons in the past?_ He sent it and muted the phone, curling up in the blankets to fall asleep. He was excited for tomorrow, but also very, very nervous.

Sam checked his phone and chuckled, a blush rising to his cheeks.

_Haha, you're hilarious. See you tomorrow._ < he sent the message with a small smile on his face - he genuinely couldn't believe it. It was - it was a date. Well, maybe how he texted had sounded like a joke, but it felt like a date. With Gabriel. Christ, he wasn't sure how he was going to sleep, he was so excited -

And somehow it was morning, his alarm going off and shocking him awake. Sam leaped out of bed immediately, switching off the alarm as quickly as possible and throwing some kind of plaid on, walking downstairs in less than five minutes flat.

"Well, you sure are peppy today," Sam's brother Dean smirked at him.

"You're up early," Sam commented. Dean snorted and continued eating his cereal.

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

 


	2. Oversized Hoodies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel is an idiot and leaves his hoodie at home.  
> Good thing he has a back-up plan!

Gabriel's alarm went off, shrill and annoying. He groaned, smacking it onto snooze and groaning louder as he burrowed into the pile of blankets. It was cold outside, and warm in his bed, and he did _not_ want to get up. Then he remembered the date, _date_ , (date!!) with Sam today. Suddenly perkier than usual, he jumped out of bed and pulled on a tshirt that was miles too big for him. _Good enough_ , he thought, throwing some cat food down for Alfie.

 

  "What's got you lookin' so happy, anyway?" Dean asked his brother. The question immediately brought a blush to his cheeks, which piqued Dean's curiosity. "What, one of your nerd friends hitting on you?"

  "Shut up, Dean," Sam rolled his eyes at his brother, but it wasn't enough to make him let up. Sam threw some bread into the toaster and turned it on.

  "You're kidding? You actually found somebody who doesn't think you need a haircut?" Dean grinned. Sam shot a bitchface at him.

  "Very funny, Dean."

  "So, who's the lucky girl?"

Sam started choking on air, which meant he didn't have to answer, thankfully. He wasn't certain how Dean would react - he'd hinted at liking guys as well as girls a few times, but hints weren't enough. It might've just been ironic.

The toast popped out of the toaster and Sam ate it dry, as quickly as possible. "I gotta get to school early today. See you, Dean," Sam told him, literally as he was walking through the door.

  "Wait - you gotta tell me -" Dean tried to implore, but Sam was already out the door.

 

The air was bloody cold, and instantly Gabriel regretted not bringing a jacket with him as he trudged towards school. He reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a lollipop he'd put there yesterday, unwrapping it and sucking on it quietly. He wasn't really one for breakfast but he was always one for sweets. The school building came into sight and he resigned himself for four long hours before he could see Sam. Maybe he'd get lucky and bump into him between classes.

  "Hey, Gabe!" A voice called, and he turned, seeing Jo running behind him.

  "Sup." he replied through the lollipop. Listening to Jo gossip about the events at her Mum's bar was fun, and it allowed his mind to wander. _Who was yesterday’s anon?_

 

Sam got to Charlie's house in record time - he usually walked to school with the redhead. She wasn't even close to ready and yelled at him when she was for being so early. Sam didn't mind - he was used to it.

  "Sooo," she grinned slyly, "I saw some anons on Gabriel's blog. Which is weird, since I know he only has 132 followers and none of these blogs are active but mine," Charlie grinned at the blush that was creeping on Sam's cheeks.

  "Shut up," Sam muttered. Charlie started to laugh.

  "So? Did he listen to you? Did he ask you on a date?" Charlie questioned, with a mischievous smile on her face. Sam didn't answer for a few moments.

  "Well, kind of. Just lunch. Nothing we aren't usually doing," Sam mentioned as casually as he could. Charlie still ended up squealing.

  "But it is a date, right?"

  "How should I know?"

  "Because you're going on it, dummy!"

  "Whatever," Sam sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "let's just get to school."

  "Right, so you'll be all the closer to your boyfriend!"

  "I swear, Charlie..."

 

As Gabriel shivered outside with Jo, he had an idea. He rummaged in his pocket and found his phone, whipping it out and loading up a very familiar chat screen.

> _Hey Sam, hope I'm not waking you up, but would you mind bringing me a hoodie? I left mine at home and it's cold as balls out here._ he hit send. Jo peered over his shoulder the whole time.

  "Oh my god, did you finally ask Winchester out?" She squealed in excitement, and Gabriel had to grab her by the shoulders to calm her down.

  "Yes, I mean no, I mean. Shut up Jo."

 

Sam felt his phone buzz in his pocket and checked the message, freezing when he saw what it said.

  "Damnit. Hang on for five minutes, Charlie, I gotta run home quickly," Sam told her in a rush, before bolting away.

  "Hey, wait a sec-" she tried to yell after him for an explanation, but Sam was already gone. Thank God he lived close by. 

It took him less than two minutes to get home and run back in, much to Dean's surprise.

  "Hey, what's gives -" Dean tried to ask, but he was cut off by Sam's "doesn't matter just getting something real quick."

He grabbed a hoodie from his wardrobe, a plain one, and ran back downstairs. "Okay now I really have to go see you later Dean," he spouted in a rush, and pelted back to Charlie.

  "Sorry about that, Charlie," Sam huffed, trying to catch his breath. Charlie was smirking at the hoodie.

  "That for Gabriel?" she asked, an eyebrow raised. Sam nodded.

  "It wasn't far, so I might as well, y'know?" he told her, before texting Gabe back.

_Yep, I got you. Tell me where to meet you so I can get it to you.'_ <

By this point Gabe's teeth were chattering together and he was rubbing his arms to keep warm. He checked his phone with icy fingers, and he grinned at the response.

_> Thanks, outside building three good for you? _ He checked what building they were standing in front of. He was also now wearing Jo's scarf who'd pitied him waiting for his """"boyfriend""""" to show up. Sam was not his boyfriend. _Heh, not yet anyway._ He bounced on the balls of his feet, waiting for Sam. Not only did he REALLY want the hoodie, but he REALLY wanted to see Sam.

Sam kept telling Charlie to hurry up, something which he didn't usually do.

  “Gosh, calm down, Sam! Not all of us can be giants, you know. I have shorter legs than you, and it's not my fault your boyfriend is freezing!" Charlie told him irritably. Sam didn't even bother correcting her this time. Thank God the school was pretty close to where she lived, so they were there relatively quickly. Sam sped to building three and grinned when he saw Gabriel, waving the hoodie at him.

  "Hey, man," Sam grinned at Gabriel, before really noticing how cold he looked. "Dude, you look like a block of ice," Sam told him with a look of concern, trying to rub some warmth into Gabriel's arms before putting the hoodie on him.

Gabriel wasn't sure who he was more pleased to see, Sam, or the hoodie. He waved enthusiastically as Sam came towards them. Sam.

  "Dude, you look like a block of ice." Sam began to rub Gabriel's arms and _oh my god_. Gabriel honestly thought he was going to faint right there and then. Despite the fact that he and Sam were best friends, they didn't like, touch each other very often, so he hadn't realised until now a) How BIG Sam's hands were, and b) how soft they were. Honestly, he thought he was going to swoon. Just as the touch had begun, it stopped, and he found himself swaddled in a warm black hoodie that smelt strongly of the youngest Winchester brother. Funny enough it smelt like lavenders with a hint of cinnamon.

  "Thanks man, I owe you a bunch." He grinned up at Sam, trying (unsuccessfully) not to lose himself in Sam's eyes. This didn't mean that he didn't see the knowing and scheming looks that Jo and Charlie gave one another.

Sam had to tear his gaze away from Gabriel's eyes - those eyes were just the shade of sunlight through whiskey. Gabriel was just too damn beautiful. It was unfair.

  "Geez, you look like you're drowning in that hoodie," Sam chuckled. Gabriel's hands barely showed underneath the hoodie. "Should’ve thought to get one of Dean's hoodies instead. Sorry about that," Sam grinned a little nervously, running his fingers through his hair. "Hey, what class are you in first, anyway?" he asked. He wasn't going to leave Gabriel to walk to class on his own, after all. God, he couldn't wait for lunch already.

  "I think I've got Maths, what have you got? I haven't memorised your timetable funnily enough." On the exterior Gabriel was cool and calm, but inside he was shouting I'M SO GLAD YOU DIDN'T GET ME ONE OF DEAN'S HOODIES. He gripped the sleeves tightly, just thankful for the warmth. Was Sam offering to walk him to his first lesson? He could not _wait_ for lunch time. When they were both alone at the café he should tell him how he felt, how he really felt, but urgh it was so difficult to do when he was positive that Sam didn't like him back. Could he casually drop it into conversation like hi hello I'm your best friend and I'm so in love with you and I have been for months? No that was stupid.

Sam grinned at his best friend. "Uh, I have English. That's a little further down from your maths room, right?" he asked, working it out in his head. "Yeah, a little further on. We're almost late to class, c'mon," Sam tugged on Gabriel's sleeve to get him to move. "Hey, Charlie, meet me at class, okay?" he called. Charlie nodded and shot him a thumbs up. Sam bit his lip and nodded before turning back to Gabriel.

What the hell was going to happen at lunch? They'd had lunch together plenty of times, but this felt so different. Sam shook his head. He was reading into things too much. There was no way in hell Gabriel would actually ask him out, dream as he might. Sam forced that thought out of his mind and started to walk Gabriel to his class.

Gabe blushed as Sam tugged on the sleeve. For a second he thought Sam was going to hold his hand. Damn he wanted Sam to hold his hand. He had to jog to keep up with Sam, and without thinking he stretched out his hand, grabbing onto Sam's cuff.

  "Woah man I can't keep up." He chuckled. "So to what do I owe the pleasure of an escorted walk to Maths?" He laughed, nudging against Sam with his shoulder. He should ask Sam out at lunch today. The worst thing that could happen would be Sam saying no, and he'd been rejected many times before. But at the same time, if Sam did reject him, would he still want to be friends?

Sam chuckled. "Well, I was going this way anyway, so I thought we might as well go straight to class. Which is ironic, since I'm pretty dang far from straight," he laughed, an immediate blush rising on his cheeks. Had he even told Gabriel that before? Did he just come out as not-quite-straight to his best friend who he also had a crush on, through a crappy joke? Nice going, Sam Winchester. Nice going. He was hoping Gabe didn't catch onto that, but that was unlikely.

  "Uhh, is it this turn or straight on for your class?" he asked, trying to cover up the joke a little bit.

He nearly stopped dead when Sam said he was far from straight. Was Sam ... FLIRTING with him? Because if he was... wow, weak.

  "It's just round there." he flailed a little bit with the hoodie sleeves. "Sam do you have a tumblr? ‘Cause I do and I didn't know if you had and if you do I wanna follow you." He blurted out before even thinking. What if Sam does have a tumblr, and he does follow Gabriel? Oh dear. He spotted his classroom, teacher outside and everything, but he didn't want to go in. Didn't want to leave Sam.

  "Just over there. I'll meet you at the West gates at the beginning of lunch?"

Sam flinched at the mention of Tumblr, remembering the anons. "Wait, yeah, my url is, uh, Samsquatch." Sam could feel himself blushing, because of course his username was a nickname like that. "And yeah, meet you at the West gates. See you, Gabe!" Sam grinned, starting off in the direction that they'd been walking, then remembering that he wasn't actually supposed to be walking that way. He just really wanted to walk Gabe to class, he supposed ... He cursed himself and walked the other way, actually towards his class. Damnit.

He was gonna be so, so late, but Mrs. Harvelle would be cool with it. She was one of Sam's favourite teachers, after all. She wouldn't be all that mad.

Gabe waved a little bit before heading into the classroom, plopping himself down at the table. He really wished he had something else right now, hell even PE, because it meant he'd be in the same class as Sam. As much as he tried, he couldn't concentrate on any of the problems his teacher was writing on the board, and eventually he just gave up, vowing to ask Charlie later about the class.

Lunch time could not come quick enough.

Sam was called out a couple times by Mrs. Harvelle for not paying attention - she even went as far as to ask him if he was getting enough sleep.

  "Yes, I'm getting enough sleep. I'm fine, I just can't concentrate," Sam tried to explain. Mrs. Harvelle gave him a hard stare and nodded.

  "Just try to concentrate, Sam."

  "Yes, ma'am."

Sam did no such thing. Or, well, he tried to, but it didn't work. Everything always seemed to lead back to Gabriel - something he said, something that made him smile. Everything drifted back to his best friend.

God, he was in deep.

The lessons flew by in an instant and moved slower than treacle, both at the same time.

Then, finally, it was lunch.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO THIS CHAPTER IS ONE OF OUR F A V E S AND THERE'S FAN ART TO GO WITH IT FIND IT H E R E -> http://synergygabriel.tumblr.com/post/135582696666/so-chapter-two-of-thank-god-for-tumblr-can-be  
> THANK V MUCH TO CC FOR ARTING IT <3
> 
> Come talk to us on Tumblr!  
> Itch: synergygabriel / whodoesntlovesabriel  
> Abbie: synergysam


	3. Lunch at the Café

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel and Sam are finally at lunch together! :)

Gabriel nearly ran to the West Gates when the lunch bell rang, Sam's hoodie still wrapped around him, his backpack bouncing. He could hear Jo laughing behind him,  "Gabe chill, he's not materialised there right on the bell." He gave her a wave and she just wandered into the library to meet up with Charlie who were thankfully leaving him and Sam to their date alone. The only people Gabriel had told about his crush were Jo, who was supportive, and his friend Balthazar, who had made many a joke, but had wished his luck via text earlier. He got there first, and waited as students left. Panic flooded through him, what if Sam didn't come?

Sam packed up and got out of class as quick as he could, walking faster than he normally would to get to the West gate. The flood of students did not make it any easier to get there quickly, but he got there quick enough, spotting Gabe and waving to get his attention.

  "Hey, I'm here, sorry, sorry. Where this café you were talking about? Is it nice?" he asked, rapid-fire, with a big grin on his face. He'd been looking forward to this all morning - Sam wondered if Gabe had been looking forward to it as much as he was. No, probably not. But it was a nice thought, regardless. Gabriel saw Sam towering over the other students and he grinned, and then he saw the huge grin on Sam's face. He seemed to be looking forward to this as much as he was.

  "Yeah it's really awesome." Gabe gestured to the left, and he started off. He'd given Jo back her scarf, and it was somehow colder now than it had been earlier. His hands were numb. He put them to his face and blew through his fingers, feeling the heat make his fingers burn.

  "Jeez man its freezing cold." He said, trying to make casual conversation to stem his nerve.

  "Really? I'm honestly hardly feeling the cold," Sam told Gabe, tilting his head to the side. "Maybe it's because I'm so hot," he joked, chuckling. Sam walked leisurely slow to keep pace with Gabriel, and his gaze fell on his best friend. He was too beautiful. His eyes, his hair, his face, his everything. He was too beautiful and Sam was in so deep with Gabriel. 

Something seemed off in his expression, though. As if he was nervous about something. "Hey, are you alright, Gabe?" he asked, concern evident in his expression. He didn't like it when Gabe was upset, not at all.

  "Hah, yeah you are." He joked. He looked up at Sam, noticing him staring down at him. Oh shit was there something on his face. "You're staring at me Sammy-boy, I got something on my face?" he frowned slightly and rubbed at his right cheek with the back of his hand.

  "And yeah I'm okay, just feeling the cold, I am only small. And I'm really fucking nervous." He giggled, trying to make it sound natural. All he wanted to do right now was hold Sam's goddamn hand and kiss him and cuddle up with him and some hot chocolate. Gabriel was gone

Sam had to smile at that. "Nervous? Why's that?" he asked. It couldn't be because of the date - no, not date, lunch. Between two friends. Because that's surely what it was. 

And surely that's all it'll ever be. Sam let out a sigh and averted his gaze, but his question still stood. He also took note of how cold Gabriel was - his poor hands must have been ice. He made a point of tugging his arm up by the hoodie's sleeve and checking to see how cold his hand was. He withdrew his hand immediately once he felt how icy it was.

"Geez, Gabe, do you just leech the cold or something?" he asked, trying to rub some warmth into his fingers. "Get some gloves, wrap your hands in the hoodie, something," Sam told him, with a shake of the head. He wished he could just hold his hands to warm him up better, but he knew that couldn't happen.

He blushed scarlet feeling Sam rubs his hands to warm them up. _Ohhh jeez_. Without really thinking he laced his fingers with Sam's and swallowed, biting down on his bottom lip.

"Got a, uh ... Really difficult homework assignment. You wanna come round mine tonight after school and help? I'll even cook dinner." he should stop holding Sam's hand now. He really should, but he just didn't want to. They were standing right outside the café but Gabriel wasn't paying any attention, the only thing he could think about was the fact he was holding Sam Winchesters hand.

Sam couldn't help but blush, too, unable to slide his own fingers away. "Yeah, sure! Happy to help," Sam swallowed, a little too loud for comfort, and finally dragged his fingers away from Gabriel's. He didn't want to, Christ knew he didn't want to, but he didn't want Gabriel to feel uncomfortable. Which he probably already was. "S-sorry," he muttered, before continuing into the café, checking to see whether Gabriel had followed.

The café was quaint and cosy, and far warmer than outside. Sam was glad - maybe Gabriel would be able to warm up now. He'd started to get a bit worried for his friend. The air smelled good, like cooking foods and coffee. Sam breathed in the scent eagerly.

"Mmm, it's great, Gabe!" he grinned.

"Yeah you are- it is." He stumbled over his words and couldn't help but squeak in fear as he realised what he'd said. He slid into a booth near the window and scoured the menu, thinking fast for some conversation.

"My last lesson got cancelled." He blurted out. Sure it was true but damn Gabriel you really have to yell it at Sam? The waitress came over, all blonde haired blue eyed smiles, and she was plainly flirting with Sam. Gabriel felt an intense pang of jealousy and got out his phone, loading up Tumblr and searching for Sam's blog.

Sam was sure he'd heard that wrong. Oh God, did Gabriel say what Sam thought he'd said? That he - no, Sam thought. Just ignore it. It - it was probably just a stumble of words. The change of topic was well received.

"Oh, nice - oh, hi," Sam nodded at the girl.

"Hi there!" the bubbly waitress replied, her little notepad already out. "Any idea what you want to order, honey?" she directed the pet name at Sam, who hardly reacted.

"Uh, mind if I get a salad?" he asked, with a polite smile. "Gabe, what do you want?"

Gabriel was already slowly scrolling through Sam's Tumblr, which was mainly pictures of dogs and running advice. He looked up at Sam, ignoring the waitress. He'd heard her call Sam honey and he wasn't pleased. "Chocolate milkshake and a turkey sandwich please." he said, watching Sam. He hadn't reacted to the pet name which was nice. Then he had a genius idea. He picked his phone up so Sam couldn't see the screen and sent him a message on tumblr - on anon if course.

"I have a crush on you." Double checking it was on anon, he hit send.

Sam confirmed the type of salad he wanted and only checked his phone once the waitress was gone, out of courtesy. The fact that he was greeted with an anon surprised him greatly - his blog was largely references for himself, so he wasn't even sure why he had his few followers, but he never got anons from them. The anon itself was even more surprising. It read 'I have a crush on you.'

Sam had to think for a few moments before tapping out a reply.

"Haha, that's really sweet of you! I'm sorry though, I'm pretty taken with somebody already."

Sam read it over a few times - it was subtle enough, no pronoun. He nodded to himself and hit post, with a small sigh.

He tapped his phone gently, not wanting to check it too soon after Sam, because that would make it seem all the more suspicious. After about a minute he couldn't help it anymore and checked, to see a response to the anon. Oh. Sam was taken by someone? He felt his heart sink. And tapped out another message. "Oh. Well I bet she's the luckiest girl in the world. Anyone would be to have you." He hit send without thinking, without remembering to turn on anon. Fear raced through him, making him feel colder than the air outside. Shit this was not good. Now Sam would know and he would be mad and this was it this was the last lunch of their friendship because he fucked up and forgot to turn himself to anon. His eye pricked with tears which he angrily bit down.

Sam didn't check his phone for a little while, a little concerned. Gabe didn't look very good all of a sudden.

"Gabriel? Are you alright, man?" Sam asked, a little confused as to what could've changed his mood so quickly. Maybe somebody was texting him.

The thought of texting made Sam check his own phone - to be greeted with a notification from sweetshopanqels.

The - the anon had been Gabriel.

Sam didn't think he'd blushed more in his life.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for sticking with us so far! Watch this space for the next instalment coming on Christmas Eve! :D
> 
> Come talk to us on Tumblr!  
> Abbie: synergysam  
> Itch: synergygabriel / whodoesntlovesabriel


	4. It's Official!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I think the title might say it all to be honest with you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Christmas everyone! <3

  "I - I'm really sorry Sam." He mumbled, running his hands through his hair, letting it fall in front of his face. "I'll, I'll just go okay, I'm really sorry." Quicker than he thought he could move, he took off Sam's hoodie and put it on the chair and yanked a £10 note out of his wallet to cover lunch. "I just, I'm sorry." He ran out the shop and into the cold.

  "No, wait - Gabe!" Sam yelled. It wasn't the time for subtleties. Sam stood up so quickly his chair toppled over, but he didn't have enough time to fix it. He ran after Gabe, the idiot, how could he think he wouldn't like him back? How could somebody so brilliant be such a moron? "Gabe, wait up! Please!" He called after him, running to catch him. Once he was in reach, he grabbed him by the shoulders and ran in front of him, so he was facing Gabriel. "Do you - do you really have - do you -" he stuttered, trying to formulate his words properly. "Do you really have a crush on me?" He asked in a rush.

Gabriel hid his face, looked down at his shoes and cursed himself in his head. It was freezing and he was shivering again but he didn't care, all he wanted to do was go home to Alfie and his blankets and stew in his own stupidity. He forced himself to look up at Sam and a single ((man)) tear ran down his cheek.

  "Yes, Sam, okay, I have this massive fucking crush on you and I have for ages and I've been writing blog posts about you for ages because I didn't want to tell you because I was sure you wouldn't want to be friends with me if I told you because you're really fucking amazing and I'm just, well, not. I live alone with a cat and I have an obsession with sweets." His voice cracked at the end and he just hid his face in his hands, ashamed of himself. This was it, the end of his friendship.

Sam couldn't believe what he was hearing. He didn't think he'd ever be able to hear these things come out of Gabe's mouth, but now here it was, out in the open. Sam stared at Gabriel, rapt, in awe.

  "No, Gabe. No, no, no, you've got it all wrong. Sometimes I can't deal with how utterly amazing you are. Sometimes it kills me that I can't - couldn't - be with you because you're so damn perfect. Because I've had the biggest crush on you for so, so long and now I'm going on and on and just -" Sam's voice trailed away, unsure of himself suddenly, so he just drew Gabriel into a hard hug. It was all he could think to do.

Gabriel choked out a breath after hearing those words. "You, you have a crush on me too?" He said. He looked up at Sam and from this angle... _dang_ his eyes were beautiful this close up. He didn't know what to do to say, all he knew was that Sam liked him and he liked Sam and they were hugging and oh god they were hugging. His arms found their way around Sam's waist and he hugged him back. "But Sammy I ain't perfect you know that I slack off and piss about all the time and you’re just so perfect."

  "Shut up, Gabe," Sam whispered, burying his face in Gabriel's hair. He would have plenty of time to explain to Gabriel just how amazing he was. Plenty of time.

  "Now c'mon, you moron. You're shivering. You shouldn't've taken the hoodie off," Sam scolded gently, rubbing Gabriel's arms again, this time a little less impersonally. Sam took Gabriel by the hands and led him back into the cafe, a smile on his face. Gabriel chewed on his bottom lip, blushing gently. He was holding Sam's hand!!! As they went back into the café he saw the waitress looking confused at them both, holding their food and standing by their table.

  "Oh, you're back!" She said, eyes trained on Sam. Jealousy flared up again and he squeezed Sam's hand, looking for some reassurance. They sat down again, Sam picking up the chair he'd knocked over, and Gabriel wiggling back into the oversized hoodie.

  "I'm sorry I freaked out." He mumbled.

Sam bit his lip. "No, its fine," he soothed, with a small smile. "I would've freaked out, too. I mean, if my messages hadn't been on anon, I’d -" Sam bit his lip and stopped talking immediately, a bright blush on his cheeks. He'd just - he'd just admitted to that. He ignored the waitress completely, which would've felt rude to him if he hadn't been in inner turmoil. That familiar mixture of self-loathing and embarrassment that he'd felt when he'd accidentally sent that text. It was an uncomfortable feeling. It took him a moment to realise he was squeezing Gabe's hand a little hard, and relaxed his grip on him a little bit.

  "Woah, wow, wait, you were the anon on my blog?" He asked, a smile playing on his lips. He felt Sam relaxing the grip on his hand and he turned his hand over, squeezing it back. He liked the warm contact. "I uh... oh damn" His cheeks were bright red and he thudded his head on the table, embarrassment taking him over now. "Oh god I am so sorry. For all my responses and all my posts please tell me you didn't read all my posts..."

Sam nodded his head. "Sorry. Charlie gave me your url, and I wasn't expecting that. At all. I just - Charlie knew about my crush on you, so I guess this was her way of... I don't know. Something," Sam finished lamely. He didn't want to say it was her way of getting them together, for some reason. Everything was out in the open now, though. "And for the record, I have had a crush on you for - what, a year now? Maybe more? So this isn't a spur of the moment thing, if that's - if that's what you're thinking," Sam stuttered, still blushing scarlet. Gabriel tightening his grip on Sam's hand was a definite comfort, however.

Gabriel still had his head on the table and he made a small noise, looking up at Sam through his hair.

  "I've had a crush on you for the same amount of time. I never thought it was a spur of the moment thing I was just so embarrassed because you're like, cool, and I'm not." He pouted at Sam cutely, still holding onto his hand. He remembered his last lesson was cancelled and suddenly hoped that Sam's was too, that Sam didn't have to go back to school, and he could come home with Gabriel and they could discuss this without a gooey eyed waitress glaring at him over the counter.

Sam stared pointedly at Gabriel, a hint of exasperation on his face. "Gabe, you've gotta stop saying that. I'm not cooler than you, there's no way in hell I'm cooler than you. You're - you're amazing, Gabriel. If - if it's okay, I'd - I'd like to be around to show you that. To - to make you understand that, Gabe. Because you really, really are amazing, okay?" Sam's voice was a little smaller than usual, closer to a whisper than normal speech. Sam even made a point of taking Gabriel's other hand in his, too. "Now, my class is cancelled, too. I'll take you up on the offer of dinner, if that's okay with you," Sam smiled at Gabe.

He pouted more, but sat up all the same. "I wasn't aware I'd even asked you out to dinner Sammy, but I have now." He winked playfully, squeezing Sam's hand again. "Should we actually eat this stuff we ordered, or are we just gonna leave it behind?" He chuckled, poking at the bread of his sandwich.

Sam chuckled, poking at his own salad. It looked a little unappetising, now that the idea of going to Gabriel's house after all this was in the air. "Y'know what? I don't really want this salad. Plus, the waitress is kinda giving me the creeps," he muttered, with a sideways glance at the girl, who looked a little more than put off by their joined hands. Sam smirked at the look on her face - she looked a combination of embarrassed and shocked.

  "Hey, Gabe. I don't really - don't really wanna go out for food. Could you," Sam felt awkward even asking it, but he really loved it when Gabe did it. "Could you cook something for us for dinner?" he asked, a blush on his cheeks. "I just - I really love your cooking, y'know?"

Gabriel grinned brightly, excited. He loved cooking, and even more for Sam, and now even more than ever because Sam liked his cooking.

  "Yeah, no problem!" He giggled, standing up. "I'll just go pay for the uneaten food... eh I'll take the sandwich with me, might as well." he picked it up, biting into it as he walked to the counter, paying for the "meal". The waitress gave off a frosty atmosphere as he paid and he was certain he over charged him, but to be honest he didn't care, Sam wanted him to cook for him, and _SAM WINCHESTER HAD A CRUSH ON HIM_. He had to text Jo.

Sam couldn't believe what was happening. He was in shock - no, he was in awe. Gabriel was actually going to do it - he was actually going to cook for him, as if it were a date. He got his phone out again and immediately texted Charlie.

 _> So ... It turns out Gabriel had a crush on me, too._ he pressed send, and hardly twenty seconds later a reply came.

 _OMG. No WAY I NEED DETAILS <_ Sam smirked at his phone.

_> Uh, he anoned me on Tumblr. Then he forgot to hit anon, and when I checked my phone he stormed out, but I went after him._

_Omgomgomgomg are you guys an item or do I have to kill both of you????? <_

_> Not officially, but... Pretty close._

_SAM WINCHESTER YOU ASK THAT BOY TO BE YOUR BOYFRIEND RIGHT NOW <_ Sam blushed at that text.

_> Uh, he's going to cook me dinner. So if it's a good time, I'll do it then._

_HE'S COOKING YOU DINNER. LIKE A DATE? <_

_> Yes._

_STOP <_

Sam put his phone away, with a smirk. He was shocked he couldn't hear Charlie screaming from all the way across town. Gabe tried to control himself as he walked back to Sam - the urge to skip rising. As he did, he texted Jo.

 _> Sam had a crush on me too. _ Seconds later he got a reply.

_I'm not surprised dummy, you two a thing or what? <_

_> Not yet. Cooking him dinner. You will be the first one to know if anything more than hand holding happens. _ He sent before tucking his phone back in his pocket. He could talk to Jo all of tomorrow through Biology about him and Sam's lunch time escapade, right now he wanted to focus on Sam and just Sam. He didn't want to make a dumb mistake and risk him slipping away from him before anything started.

He gave Sam a large mock bow as he opened the café door, the arm of the hoodie drooping comically.

  "After you m'lord." He joked.

Sam laughed at the gesture. "I can't take you even close to seriously in that hoodie," he chuckled, walking through the door and slipping his hand under Gabe's sleeve, so as to take his hand again. He was not going to miss out on any hand holding. It was a comforting gesture and Gabe was freezing, no matter how big the hoodie was. He needed warming up, especially his hands, and Sam could try to provide that. He'd wanted to provide that for ages, and now he could. Sam was practically floating on air at this point, with how light his heart felt. Thank God for cancelled classes. He made a mental note to work extra hard in the class he'd missed all semester, just as a thanks for not being necessary that specific day.

His hand tingled as he felt Sam slipping his hand up the sleeve of his hoodie to hold his hand. He slipped his fingers in between Sam's and squeezed gently, delighted that he could hold hand's with Sam as they walked away from the café even if they didn't when they went there. He was still really cold despite the hoodie, but the hoodie smelt like Sam and it was Sam's, and he didn't want to take it off until he actually really had to. It really dawned on him, Sam liked him. _Like liked him._ He was comfortable holding his hand in public even though they hadn't discussed what their relationship was - was there even a relationship?

Sam was having similar thoughts, fingers laced comfortably with Gabriel's. It was an easy touch, and it was certainly a nice one. He just didn't know what it meant, specifically. He'd have to ask whether Gabriel wanted to be known as his boyfriend - Sam's heart fluttered at the very thought, but he wasn't going to pressure the other boy. There was no way he was going to make Gabe uncomfortable - it would chase him away, and that was what Sam wanted least of all. If Gabriel decided that no, he didn't want this, then it was all for nought. It hurt to think about, really. The idea that he could be so close, and yet so far.

Sam would tackle what to call Gabriel later on in the day. For now, he just enjoyed the walk.

"You know I don't live that way Sam, we need to turn here." Gabriel joked, turning a corner abruptly. "Do you need anything from home? And what would you like for dinner?" He quizzed, gently rubbing Sam's hand with his thumb. He wanted to call Sam his boyfriend - but he should wait for them to get back to his place before he asked him about that. Wanted it to be warm, and cute and soft, not cold in the November air

Sam grinned at the sensation of Gabriel running his thumb over his hand. Something about the gesture was incredibly calming and all around sweet, and Sam didn't think he'd ever get enough of it.

Not that he didn't think running his fingers through Gabriel's hand wouldn't be all the more pleasant, or cuddling on Gabe's couch with Alfie stretched out over the two of them, or pressing his lips to Gabriel's forehead, cheek, the tip of his nose, his lips -

Sam shook free of the daydream. "Wha - oh! Oh. I don't need anything from home, no, and... I don't mind what we have for dinner," _So long as it's with you,_ Sam attached to the end of the sentence in his head.

He was in so, so deep.

They arrived at the front door of his place and he unlocked the door, heading in, listening to Alfie meow at him from the front room. "Casa Del Gabe." He gestured. Sam had been round before, but not for a while. All he wanted to do right now was cuddle with Sam, run his hands through that soft chesnut hair, kiss those soft li-

  "I need to feed Alfie." He rushed into the kitchen to feed his asshole ginger cat, watching Alfie trot in knowingly as he picked up the biscuit box.

  "Damn Alfie I'm in so deep with Sam."

Sam hesitated for a few seconds before deciding he might as well get comfortable - he hoped Alfie would saunter in at some point, too, he loved the ginger furball. Sam settled into the couch quickly enough, rolling up the sleeves of his plaid now that he was in the warm. He liked it when the sleeves were rolled up.

Sam checked his phone, which had been getting notification after notification from Charlie.

_'WHAT'S HAPPENING' < _

_'ARE YOU WITH HIM??' < _

_'Did you guys kiss omfg' < _

_'I'm so going to write a fanfic based on this' <_

_'HELLOOO!?' <_

_'SAM WINCHESTER DO NOT IGNORE ME OR I'M TELLING YOUR BROTHER YOU'RE ON A DATE' <_

_'SAM WINCHESTER' <_

_'SAMM!?!??' <_

Sam chuckled at the messages and put his phone away again. He didn't really mind if Charlie told Dean. Hell of a lot easier than Sam telling his brother, anyway. Whilst he was in the kitchen, Gabriel text Jo.

 _> Hey, Sam's here. Please don't bug because not going to lie I'm about to ask him to be my boyfriend. _ By the time he was about to leave the kitchen Jo text back.

 _Good luck bro, I'll get rid of Charlie for you. < _He smiled.

_> Thanks._

When he went back into the front room HOLY SHIT Sam was sitting there with his sleeves rolled up was the hottest damn thing he'd seen in ages and he just wanted to march over there and kiss him.

  "So uh Sam... Truth or dare?" He winked at the hottie on his sofa. long shot, but fuck it. Sam took a second to process that, and smirked. Interesting.

  "Uh, I pick..." Sam hesitated for a second, thinking it over. "Truth," he decided finally, with a smile. The notifications that had his phone going insane had stopped abruptly and suspiciously, but he didn't really care. He'd suddenly been assaulted by how utterly gorgeous Gabriel was.

It'd plagued him for an entire year, and every not and then it just hit him, that Gabriel's eyes, his hair, his face, his everything was so damn gorgeous Sam could hardly take it. It he didn't know any better, he'd say Gabriel looked like an angel.

But no, obviously not. Angels were from fairy tales and in bible stories, singing hymns and unseen by most humans. No, Gabriel was undeniably human, thank all divine forces that made it so.

  "Why do you have a crush on me?" He asked, sitting beside Sam on the sofa. His honey coloured eyes were full of nerves as he asked the killer question.

Sam's eyes fluttered closed for a second. Oh, dear lord. He'd have to answer that eventually anyway, but to be asked outright? Sam took in a deep breath, and began to try and answer the question.

  "Well, why wouldn't I have a crush on you? I'm demi, see, and you are one of the best friends I've ever had, y'know? I mean, Charlie's great, Jo's great, but you were always there. Always, and I'm really thankful for that. I suppose it just - developed into something more. And it was the worst, because all I could do was just be friends," Sam sighed and opened his eyes again, taking in Gabriel's expression. "You're just - you're amazing, okay? It was just a matter of time before I fell for you," and, man, did I fall hard, he thought to himself. He shook his head to clear it. "Anyway, it's my turn. Truth or dare?" he asked, a smirk forming on his face.

Gabriel grinned cheekily. "Dare."

As he said it, he was thinking about why Sam liked him. It was only a matter of time before he had fallen for Sam as well because Sam is a better version of him. He's always there when Sam needs him - even at the am phone call when Gabriel was having nightmares. And Sam was wayway more amazing, more brains more beauty. He shifted slightly closer to Sam too.

Sam smirked at Gabriel. Oh, he'd been hoping Gabriel would say that.

  "Alright, Gabriel. I dare you to..." he thought it over quickly - he knew what he wanted to say, but should he? A wave of dread washed over him. What if Gabriel reacted badly, or didn't want to? If Gabriel looked uncomfortable, he'd offer to let him skip the dare. He just had to ask. Sam steeled himself, unable to believe the words that were about to leave his mouth. "I dare you to kiss me."

Gabriel blushes bright pink. Sam wanted him to kiss him. _Kiss him._

He blinked a few times before biting his lip. He wanted to do this, he wanted to kiss Sam. Nervously leant towards Sam, moving his hand slowly onto Sam's shoulder. "Are you sure you want to kiss me? I mean, this is me we're talking about."

Sam grinned at Gabriel, shaking his head slightly. "Don't you see? That's exactly why," he muttered, tempted to close the gap himself. But it was Gabriel's dare, so Gabriel had to perform the dare. That was just the rules. Sam did lean in closer, though - close enough for their foreheads to touch. The closeness was intoxicating, exhilarating - Sam never wanted it to end.

All that needed to happen to make the moment perfect was for Gabe to close the space between them.

He could feel the heat of Sam’s breath on his lips, and the gentle brush of the tip of Sam' nose on his. This was it - he was going to kiss Sam. He closed the gap slowly and gently, feeling the softness of Sam's lips underneath his. He had imagined this moment for ages since he'd started feeling the crush on Sam and honestly it hadn't ever occurred to him it would be this good. Sam tasted as good as he smelt and Gabriel really didn't want this moment to end.

The kiss was soft, gentle, and absolutely perfect. A scent that was distinctly Gabriel, of candyfloss and rain and something unearthly but also comforting, enveloped him. He wondered if this intense feeling of comfort and general belonging was something Gabriel felt, wrapped up in his hoodie. Perhaps not, but it felt so good.

And the kiss. Oh, the kiss. It was worth every day he'd spent pining, every day he'd wished that Gabriel could be his. It was gentle, careful, and everything he could've wished for. Sam leaned in further, deepening the kiss slightly, before pulling away.

As they separated, Gabriel's heart skipped a beat. He didn't want to stop kissing Sam, it made him feel soft and gooey, like warm honey, and as he inhaled the deep earthy scent of Sam he shivered slightly. The soft material of Sam's hoodie brushed against his cheek, and Gabe moved his hand off Sam's shoulder to move his hair out of his face.

  "Truth or dare?" He smiled.

Sam thought for a moment, weighing the merits of both options. On one hand, he could spill his guts to Gabriel, gush on and on about how amazing he is - maybe he'd end up with a bit more confidence to boot - or he could end up doing something like that again.

  "I choose dare," Sam nodded, with a smirk. His heart was soaring from their kiss. He was in a twilight zone between intense exhilaration and incredible relaxation, as if his brain couldn't decide whether to make him swim to Africa and back, or to make him cuddle next to Gabriel and go to sleep.

The latter was preferable, but he couldn't sleep right now. They were in the middle of a game.

He grinned, a familiar mischievous glint sparkling through those whiskey coloured eyes of his. He stared at Sam, gaze piercing and whispered "Kiss me again." He knew Sam wanted to know, he knew more than anything else that Sam wanted to kiss him. Hell he didn't know how he knew, but he knew, and Gabriel was not one to keep Sam waiting. He returned his hand to Sam's shoulder, rubbing it like he was giving him a one handed massage.

Sam's eyes lit up at the prospect. "Gladly," he grinned, placing a hand on the small of Gabriel's back and pulling him closer, before dipping down to kiss him, a little harder than the last, soft kiss.

Hell, Sam thought, he couldn't deal with just this. He had everything right then - he was kissing his crush after so much time, but it wasn't enough. He lifted his hand to run his finger through Gabriel's hair, which was softer than Sam had imagined. He'd imagined doing just this, just running his fingers through Gabriel's locks, and it was so much better than he thought it would be. Plus, he could bring Gabriel even closer, deeper the kiss just subtly further.

It was perfect.

Gabriel smiled against Sam's mouth, kissing him back, letting his hand skirt along the sharp edge of Sam's jaw, winding his fingers into the soft hairs at the nape of his neck, purring as he felt Sam's warm, large hand on the small of his back. This was so perfect and amazing, he didn't think he would ever make it here and he is, he really is. His other hand fisted into Sam's tshirt, feeling the soft fabric against his knuckles.

Sam let the kiss linger on for another few seconds before pulling away again, this time slightly out of breath. His eyes were twinkling and he doubted he'd ever felt so elated before.

  "That was -" what was the word he needed? Wonderful? Amazing? Brilliant? "- Perfect," he breathed, with an awkward smile. He couldn't help himself - he leaned over and pulled Gabriel into a tight hug, because Sam was so overwhelmed by everything that was happening and how amazing it was that he just felt the need to hold Gabriel close to him. He buried his face in Gabriel's hair, just like he had when they were outside the cafe, and just breathed in Gabriel's scent.

Gabe closed his eyes as Sam hugged him tight, pushing his nose against Sam's shoulder. he inhaled, smelling the sweetness of Sam's deodorant and the airiness from his tshirt, alongside the earthy cinnamon smell that was just him. He shifted himself closer, cuddling up to Sam. He opened his mouth, wanting to speak. He wanted to tell Sam that he wanted to be.... boyfriends but he also didn't want to ruin the silent serenity of the moment

Sam decided that it would be up to him to make the move. "Hey," he muttered into Gabe's hair, keeping his voice low and quiet, so as to not ruin to sweetness of the quiet. "Gabriel, what does this make us?" he asked. He wanted him to say this makes us boyfriends, you idiot, what did you think it made us and just make it easy and simple. If they could just slip into a relationship like a well-fitting glove, it would be everything Sam had ever dreamed of.

Gabriel moved back slightly and pressed his lips against Sam's cheek. "This makes us boyfriends, at least if you want us to be." He chuckled and rubbed at his nose shyly, hoping Sam would say something along the lines _of course I want to be your boyfriend I didn't have a crush on you for this long for nothing_. He waited for Sam's answer, his apartment comfortably quiet.

Sam processed the words for a second before breaking out into a wide grin, eyes twinkling with glee. In his excitement he pulled Gabe close and dragged him down, so that they were lying on the couch together. Sam felt like a mattress, and that was perfectly fine. Gabe was so little and light that it didn't even matter.

Sam planted a chaste kiss on Gabe's forehead when he wiggled his friend - boyfriend - upwards a little bit, so that Sam could reach him properly. It was warm and cosy - Sam gave a thought for Alfie, and wondered if he felt left out. Sam chuckled at the thought.

Gabe laughed and licked the tip of Sam's nose playfully. "I'm gathering this is a yes then." he grinned and looked down at Sam. This was even better than he'd thought. Sam wanted to be with him. Sam Winchester wanted to be with him, Gabriel Novak. He wanted to run out into the street and scream it for everyone to hear, he wanted to jump up and text Jo, telling her what was going on. Oh god Jo. He felt bad for her, realising that Sam's phone had been quiet for ages. Jo was doing really well to keep Charlie quiet. Maybe she'd stolen her phone.

  "Do you think we should put our friends out of their misery?" He said, looking at Sam's phone on the coffee table.

Sam grinned an oddly mischievous grin. It was probably reminiscent of Gabriel's own trademark smile. He grabbed his phone and unlocked it quickly.

  "Let's send a selfie to Charlie, shall we? Roll over," he told his boyfriend - he was still shocked he was allowed to call him that. He snapped a picture and sent it to Charlie quickly, and another text afterwards, reading 'see? All you had to do was LEAVE US ALONE FOR A WHILE.'

He imagined Jo giving Charlie her phone back, because there was no doubt that she'd had to take it away from her. Sam was surprised they couldn't already hear screaming in the distance.

Gabe grinned for the picture, pressing his cheek against Sam's in a classic "Hey, we're together" photo. A response came back instantly.

 > _OH. MY GOD_. They both fell about laughing, and when one's laughter began to trail into giggles the sight of the other one still in hysterics made them laugh again. After about ten minutes Gabe at up, sitting on Sam's lap and rubbing his ribs, still chuckling.

"Oh man, my ribs hurt." he wheezed out a few more chuckles and patted his pockets for his phone. He'd missed some text from Jo.

_I'm going to kill her. < _

_I took her phone. <_

_Hurry up I will actually kill her. <_

_We got Sam's texts - congrats. Can I relinquish my guard on Breadbury? <_ He showed Sam, and they started to laugh again. He typed back "Go ahead" before putting the phone down, staring down at Sam.

Almost the exact moment Gabriel sent that text, Sam's phone went nuts.

_'SAM WINCHESTER YOU' <_

_'SAM I CNANAT EVN TYP' <_

_'THIS IS FCKING IM PUTTING THIS IN TH EFNAFICTION' <_

_'I'M ALREADY PLANNING IT IN MY HEAD' <_

_'HS AU. AWKWARD IDIOTS DON'T KNOW THEY'RE BOTH IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER' <_

_'I'M GONNA CALL IT 'LOOK AT THESE NERDS'' <_

_'S A B R I E L' <_

_'IT'S C A N O N' <_

_'SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM' <_

Sam couldn't stop chuckling at Charlie's messages, and put his phone on mute and putting it back on the coffee table. He looked up at Gabe and smiled. "You're staring," he pointed out, grabbing his hand. Just because he could.

Alfie finally decided to join them, leaping up onto the couch and curling up on Sam's stomach. Sam grinned down at the cat and stroked it.

"D'you think he felt left out?" he chuckled.

Gabe groaned as Alfie decided to join them. "Yeah, I think he did. Asshole cat." He prodded Alfie gently, annoyed when the cat didn't as much as flinch. Gabriel just wanted to cuddle with his boyfriend without having his ginger git get under his nose.

"I'ma put some music on." He mumbled, climbing off Sam, heading for the stereo in the corner. He hit play, not remembering when he last used the stereo. Through the speakers blasted **SING SOMETHING NEW, I HAVE NOTHING LEFT, I CAN'T FACE THE DARK WITHOUT YOU** at an impossibly loud volume, scaring the shit out of all three of them. He turned it down quickly, before looking back at Sam sheepishly.

"Oops."

Sam clutched at his chest, breathing deeply to steady his heartbeat. "Jesus Christ, Gabe," Sam breathed, "Why were you listening to music that damn loud? You'll make yourself deaf," Sam scolded his boyfriend, standing up to take a look at the stereo - Alfie had ran off immediately, clawing at Sam's stomach in the process. His stomach stung a bit, but that didn't really matter.

He draped himself over Gabriel's shoulders and kissed him on the cheek when he walked over. "Got anything, y'know, a little slower than that?" he asked, an amused smile on his face.

Gabe blushed a bright pink and leant backwards into Sam, his warmth and heaviness pleasant and familiar. He found another song, still kind of upbeat, but way more dance worthy.

The music was quieter now, and nowhere near as heavy metal, but it was an upbeat punchy omg that made Gabe wiggle his hips and laugh.

"We were victims of the night,

The chemical, physical, kryptonite

Helpless to the bass and the fading light

Oh, we were bound to get together,

Bound to get together."

He found himself drowning in Sam's eyes again, all too aware of what the lyrics were

Sam chuckled, hazel eyes bright and trained on Gabriel's whiskey-coloured ones, taking him by the hands and dancing to the beat, an amused grin on his face.

God, they were both such morons. They could've had all of this so much sooner if they both hadn't been such cowards. Just two idiots dancing away at 5pm, that was them. Sam's grin grew wider. Thank God it was them.

Sam blushed a little bit at the lyrics, but he didn't let up with is dancing - he was having way too much fun to be fazed by an all too true lyric.

Sam glanced at the ground every now and then - it seemed like Alfie wanted to join in by walking around their feet, so Sam had to be extra careful as to not step on his tail.

Gabriel was smiling widely, more than he thinks he'd ever smiled before. Honestly, he wished he'd told Sam about his crush sooner, so they could have danced round the living room on more occasions, and Alfie could fall asleep on Sam more often than "Dean has a girl round can I crash on your sofa?". Holding Sam's hands, he stood on tiptoes and crushed his lips to Sam's in a kiss that tasted like laughter and love.

Sam returned the kiss immediately, releasing one of Gabe's hand so that he could wrap an arm around Gabe's waist. When he withdrew from the kiss, he planted another playful kiss on the tip of his nose, then each cheek, then his forehead. He even went as far as to lift Gabriel up - he was only small and light to carry - and spin around with Gabriel in his arms, laughing with glee.

"You're so light," Sam teased, chuckling. He leaned in slightly to catch Gabriel's lips lightly, for just a second or two.

Gabe squealed and wriggled when Sam picked him up, returning the soft kiss.

"Hey you put me down, I'm not a toy!" Gabe frowned playfully and puffed out his cheeks, trying to pretend he was "mad" at Sam for picking him up but ugh Sam was too perfect to be annoyed with. Gabriel had an amazing idea. Deftly, he wiggled his fingers and tickled Sam right on the ribs.

Sam drew in a gasp and tried to wriggle away and not drop Gabriel at the same time. He just about placed Gabe down without dropping him on his ass, but Gabe's fingers were still accosting his ribs and there wasn't anything he could do about it. "Gabe, Gabe, no! No, stop it!" Sam giggled, trying to get away from Gabe. Sam was way too ticklish and only Dean and Charlie really knew that, and they both liked to use that to their advantage. Now that Gabe knew, too, he'd never have a tickle-free moment again. He was basically squealing and he was giggling, both were usually left to Charlie and Charlie alone.

Gabriel just kept tickling, laughing along with Sam. As Sam tried to back off he took a step forward to keep the tickles up but tripped over Alfie, and fell head first into Sam with a loud "Thunk."

"Oh damn it Alfie, I'm really sorry Sam.'"

Sam couldn't help but laugh at Gabe's fall. "Karma," Sam chuckled, helping Gabe get his balance back, bending down to pet Alfie, with a smile. "I love this cat. Did I ever tell you I love this cat?" he asked, picking the ginger furball up and cradling it. The cat purred when Sam scratched it under it's chin, eyes slightly closed. The cat only batted at him half-heartedly when Sam tickled close to his stomach.

Gabriel laughed, scratching Alfie's stomach. "If I didn’t know any better I'd say you liked the cat more than you like me." His smile lit up the room as he looked down on Sam, heart elated that he was finally here, saying these things, to Sam’s face, not just thinking them

Sam rolled his eyes good-humouredly and grinned at the cat. "Sorry Alfie, but I don't like you that much," he chuckled, letting the cat jump down from his arms. He grinned at Gabriel, only to remember something and feel the smile melt off of his face.

"Agh, damn it - what's the time - damnit," Sam hissed. It was almost half 5, and Dean would definitely be wondering where he was. He was probably already planning to kick somebody's ass, judging by his texts.

_'Sam? Where are you?' <_

_'Sam?? Answer my calls' <_

_'Sammy????' <_

Sam sighed and set to texting back _'it's fine. I was on a date and I muted my phone.'_

_'Seriously? Tell me which of your nerd friends you're out with. I'll even pick you up later if you ask nicely enough.' <_

_> 'I'm out with Gabriel.' _

Sam didn't like how long time stretched between texts, but it looked like he was worried about nothing.

_'Gabe? Alright, I know where he lives. I'll pick you up at six. And I'll corner him when I can to give the big brother speech.' <_

_> 'Don't give him the speech.'_

_'Already got it planned out, bro. See you later.' <_

Sam sighed in relief. "It's alright. Dean was freaking out a bit because I'm usually back at about 4. He's gonna get me at 6," Sam explained to Gabe.

Gabe pouted. "But I was going to cook you dinner. I mean I could make some for Dean too if you guys want." Gabe sat himself back on the sofa, staring at his phone. He was glad Dean cared about Sam, and would text him to check he wasn't hurt or anything. The most contact Gabriel had with his family was a merry Christmas from two of his several siblings.

"Do you... doyouthinkDeanmightletyoustaythenight?" He blurted out. He'd love Sam to stay round so they could just dance and sing and cuddle... and show up to school holding hands tomorrow.

Sam thought for a second, and shrugged. "I can definitely ask. He's my brother, anyway - he isn't that much of an authority, so I'll just ask him to bring my school stuff around instead," Sam explained. His heart leaped at the thought of staying over. With Gabriel. He grabbed his phone immediately and started to text.

'Hey, Dean, change of plan. I'm staying over for the night. Mind bringing my school stuff over?' it took a minute or so before Dean replied.

'Uh, sure, yeah. I'll get you your bag and I'm giving him the big brother speech the moment I get there. No excuses.'

Sam grinned. "I can stay over, yeah! But Dean's apparently gonna have a talk with you," Sam told him, amused.

His heart dropped. Was Dean okay with Sam being with him? Was it because he was a guy and Sam was a guy? He didn't have Dean pegged as a homophobe but it sounded pretty ominous to say the least.

"Just checking - you want to stay over right?" He relaxed backwards into the sofa and Alfie jumped into his lap, purring loudly. He scratched the cat's ears, glad to take his mind away from the fear of Big Brother Dean.

Sam sank into the couch beside his boyfriend and leaned in to kiss him - slow and lingering. Once he withdrew, he wore a disbelieving smile, shaking his head slightly. "I can't believe you just felt the need to ask that question," he grinned, taking the hand Gabe wasn't petting Alfie with and laced his fingers between Gabe's. "Oh, and Dean won't be awful. He - he'll just want to talk, is all, and if he's too overwhelming I'll step in, okay?" Sam soothed, brushing his thumb over Gabe's hand in little circles. "Not that I'll have to do that. You'll be fine, Gabe, I promise."

Gabe smiled, shuffling closer to Sam on the sofa and wedging himself under Sam's arm.

"I know, I'm just... worried you know." He smiled nervously and rested his head on Sam's shoulder, feeling peaceful and happy. When the doorbell rang however he jumped.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading ;w;  
> come talk to us on tumblr!  
> Itch: synergygabriel / whodoesntlovesabriel  
> Abbie: synergysam


	5. Mean Girls and Shawshank Redemption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean comes round!

Squeezing Sam's hand before standing up and opening the door, Gabriel was grinning at Dean.

"Hey Dean, thanks for bringing Sam's stuff round." He said, holding out a hand to take Sam's bag from Dean

"No problem," Dean nodded, walking in giving Sam the bag, rather than Gabe. Sam gave his brother a warning look, who just shrugged in responsive. Sam just slung the bag onto the couch - Gabe would tell him where to put it later. For now, they had to deal with Dean.

"So, what the hell are you two?" he asked, a little forcefully. Sam sighed. He was just being protective, but he didn't have to be a dick about it.

"Dean, Gabe is my boyfriend," he answered honestly. Dean just nodded in response.

"Okay. Gabriel, mind if I talk with you? Sammy, you can put your bag away or something. Just get out for a minute, okay?"

Sam was apprehensive about leaving them alone, but he guessed Dean wouldn't leave if he didn't have his talk with Gabe. "Okay. Don't be a jerk," he told his brother. Dean smirked.

"Bitch," he called after him, at Sam went outside - for some air, he supposed.

 

Gabe watched Sam leave, and shuffled about a little nervously. Dean was bigger than him - and a lot stronger, and to be honest he didn't want to get on the bad side of the older Winchester brother. Damn he wished that Sam could be sat in here next to him, holding his hand for comfort.

"Dean, look, I know that Sam's your little brother and you wanna protect him but I just wanna say that I've had a crush on him for absolutely months, I know that I want this with him, and I didn't force him into this either. I just want to make him happy."

Dean nodded, listening very carefully to what Gabe said. "Alright, I get that. I just have to tell you that Sam's my little brother, and if he ends up hurting because of you, I'll rip your lungs out," he said it seriously enough, but he had a smirk on his face. "And just so you know, I'm completely okay with you being a dude. I don't care what the hell gender Sam decides he likes, s'long as he doesn't date a dick," Dean explained, "and I know you aren't that much of a dick, so you're okay. Just. Don't hurt him - oh, and - i have - I have a question for you."

Dean looked a little awkward suddenly, as if he were a little embarrassed.

"If I ever hurt Sam I would have kicked my own arse way before you got anywhere near it I swear." he relaxed slightly, realising Dean wasn't as scary as he thought. This was the moment Alfie decided to trot into the room meowing, rubbing his face on Dean's legs.

"You uh, have a question?" He could see Dean's embarrassment and wondered what the hell this question could be. Alfie was still by Dean, determined to get attention

Dean nudged the cat away gently with the tip of his boot, eyes trained on the ground. "Uh - I - I met your brother a while ago. Castiel. At the library, he works there. I was getting some resources for Bobby - he's my employer at the garage and basically like a dad to me and Sam, but that's off topic - I - I don't know, we've been friends for a few months now and I've kinda - I - I kinda want to ask him out, and since I was going to see you anyway, I was just - I just thought..." Dean's voice trailed away, not really sure where he was going with that. He didn't really want to about how Cas' eyes were so easy to drown in, and when Cas stared at him it lit a fire in his soul, or how he was strange and hilarious in his own weird way - hell, he didn't even want to say it to himself, but he sure as hell knew it.

Maybe Winchesters just had a thing for Novaks. Dean wouldn't've been surprised.

Gabriel stared at Dean dumbstruck before bursting out laughing at Dean's complete awkwardness.

"Thought what, you'd ask me my permission or something? Go for it Dean, I've heard all about the sweet green-eyed customer I just didn't realise it was you till now. Here's a tip though; Cassie won't get the hint, you're gonna need to straight out tell him." He laid back, relaxing now that the stressful part of the conversation was over. "Can we call Sam back in? I know it's not late but I'm getting hungry and I am the one making dinner after all."

Dean immediately felt heat rising to his face - sweet green-eyed customer, wha - he scratched the back of his neck, playing off his embarrassment with a laugh. "Yeah, sure. Sorry if I scared you, by the way - SAMMY! YOU CAN COME BACK NOW," he yelled - Sam came in within a matter of seconds, looking Dean and Gabriel over carefully. They both seemed pretty fine - wait, was Dean blushing?

"Dean, why do you look so embarrassed?"

"No reason," Dean told him, a little too quickly. Sam cocked his head to the side in confusion, but didn't press it. "So, I guess I should get going, then," Dean announced awkwardly.

Gabe tilted his head back and his face lit up when he saw Sam come back into the room. His Sam . He patted the sofa beside him for Sam.

"Don't you wanna stay for dinner Dean?" He asked, his hand very slowly finding it's way on top of Sam's, relishing in the feeling of the warmth beneath his fingers.

Dean had been making his way to the door when the question was asked and kind of froze him to the spot. He looked over his shoulder and shrugged. "Uh, sure, I mean - yeah, thanks," Dean shot a quick smile at Gabriel for offering.

Sam laced his fingers between Gabe's, almost on reflex. It hadn't been all that long and it was already reflex. Maybe it was all those times he'd imagined it talking. "So, I want to know exactly why Dean was blushing."

"I wasn't blushing," Dean lied in irritation, greatly amusing Sam.

"You totally were Dean. Its fine Sam, he just has a crush on Castiel that's all." Gabriel winked playfully at Dean before shuffling on the sofa to snuggle into Sam for a minute. He needed to get up and cook dinner but dammit this was way too cosy to move away from.

Eventually he tore himself away, throwing Sam the TV remote.

"Go nuts." He said, grabbing his phone as he went into the kitchen, sticking on some music and wiggling his hips in time as he began to chop ingredients and preheat the oven.

Sam looked over at Dean in shock, who was cupping his face in his hands. "Cas? Is that why you're always at the library?" he asked, with a surprised laugh. "So, what, that makes you...?"

"Not quite sure, but I’m not straight. Wasn't exactly 'open' about it, but I wasn't gonna not embrace it either. What does this make you?" Dean asked. Sam smiled.

"Demi. That's alright?" He asked - just for confirmation.

"Obviously. I was more worried about what you'd think of me," Dean confessed sheepishly. "Now pass me the remote before you put something shitty on tv." Sam rolled his eyes but passed him the remote, and Dean immediately found the movies section. "Mean Girls, fuck yeah," he muttered under his breath, turning the movie on. Sam raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't act like you don't love this movie too!"

As Gabriel heard the sound of a movie coming from the front room he grinned. It was nice actually having some company for once rather than just himself and Alfie. With some vegetables sizzling in the frying pan he hummed along to the song playing out of his phone, dancing along.

"With Rome in ruins, we are the lions, free of the colosseum." He sang along under his breath, carefully slicing some cheese. He had a whole meal planned and he couldn't wait to see the look on Sam and Dean' faces when he presented it to them

Dean was so into the film, even mouthing the words as they were said. Sam rolled his eyes, amused.

"And you call me a nerd," Sam muttered.

"Hey, this is quality television, okay? You like documentaries about frogs, so you can shut up," Dean reprimanded. Sam chuckled and gave up, watching the movie.

"Gaaabe," Sam called, "What're we having?"

"Yeah, what are we having?" Dean added, a little unnecessarily. His eyes were still trained on the tv. "God, Lindsey Lohan is hot in this," he muttered under his breath.

"Why don't you come out here and look Sammy? And dude, chick flicks?" Gabe appeared in the doorway of the living room with dishevelled golden hair and a pink apron tied around his waist to wipe his hands on. He winked at Sam before heading back to shoving the chicken into the oven, wrapped in bacon and cheese. He leant back against counter and took a drink of water, hoping Sam would join him in the kitchen.

Dean made an annoyed sound. "It's a great movie," he grumbled. Sam shook his head at Dean good-humouredly and stood up, walking to check out was his boyfriend was making for dinner. Once Gabe put down his drink, he immediately wound his arms around Gabe and pulled him close, kissing him a little harder than the lingering kind of kiss that had become familiar over the afternoon, just because Gabriel was his and that he could.

He was in so, so deep and it was one of the best feelings of his life, honestly. It didn't even matter that Dean was just in the other room - he'd kiss Gabe as much as he goddamn wanted to, brother be damned.

Gabriel purred, actually purred, when Sam bent down to kiss him, and he instinctively rose up on his tiptoes because damn that height difference. Sam was just huge and warm and made him feel safe and he was just so, so glad that he could finally kiss Sam and call him his own.

"So, you excited to stay round? We can do anything." he grinned, then realised how incredibly flirty that had sounded. "And I mean you know we can watch any kind of film you want I have tons of DVDS-" Halfway through his sentence however his phone rang. He answered it.

"Gabe!" A happy voice echoed to him. Ah, Balthy.

"What do you want?" He asked, rolling his eyes at Sam.

"I was just checking on you, making sure your lunch date went good." He could hear the smirk on Balthazar's face, and could picture him now, sat with a wine glass in his hand, grinning at the drink as he teased Gabriel.

"The date went fine, Sam's still here." He mouthed at Sam, 'it's Balthazar'.

Sam nodded, with a smile. Of course Balthazar already knew. Sam took a moment to check what they were eating, nodded in approval, kissed Gabe on the cheek and walked back into the living room, sinking into the couch again with a heavy, relaxed sigh. Dean smirked at him.

"Somebody's happy," Dean commented.

"No shit, Sherlock," Sam replied, but the dopey grin on his face didn't match his words. Dean's attention was back on Mean Girls for a second just to say 'Boo, you whore' right on cue, turning his attention back to Sam immediately after the moment was over. Sam laughed at his brother, who didn't really care.

"So, Castiel, huh," Sam mentioned casually - Dean spluttered in response. Sam smirked in triumph. "You're so far gone, oh my God," Sam laughed.

"Shut up, Sammy," Dean hissed, through gritted teeth.

"Balthy I'm telling you, when you can you need to come meet Sam, he's the sweetest. Yeah. Okay, but I need to go, I'm making dinner. Yeah yeah love you too asshole" He hung up the phone and grabbed the oven mitts, checking on the food. It was coming along perfectly. He untied the apron, draping it over the back of a chair before going back into the front room.

"Are we still watching Mean Girls? Or are we playing tease Dean?" He put his hands on the back of the sofa and leant there, chuckling. He liked the game of tease the Winchester.

"Dean's trying to watch Mean Girls, but I'm playing tease Dean. Specifically about one Castiel Novak," Sam smirked as Dean glared at him. "What's it about Castiel that's got you so hooked? His blue eyes? His voooice?" Sam asked, in a sing-song teasing manner. Dean would not let up his bitchface.

Dean turned his attention back to the tv, trying not to listen.

"His haaair? His laugh? What is it, Dean?" Sam continued, a shit-eating grin on his face.

"All of the above, asshole," he muttered, very quietly - it was practically the volume of a breath. Sam heard it anyway.

"You're so gone," Sam repeated, shaking his head in disbelief.

Gabe laughed at the teasing before ruffling Sam's hair. Sam was so cute with messy hair.

"If it makes you feel better Dean I know that Cassie likes you too, the sweet customer with the green eyes and the messy hair who always smells like car oil, and who's got progressively shyer every time he comes in."

He went back into the kitchen, leaving Dean spluttering in the front room, and got dinner out of the oven.

"Children it's dinner time." He called, dishing the meal onto plates. He'd made chicken wrapped in bacon, covered in cheese, with a liberal helping of barbeque sauce, chips and a fried onion garnish.

"Fuck yeah," Dean grinned, leaving the film - it was only the last few minute anyway. Sam and Dean made their way to the kitchen, and Sam just about staved off the urge to kiss the hell out of Gabriel again. He wasn't sure how he'd been able to supress that urge previously, but now it was a very difficult thing to do.

The meal looked amazing - Dean was especially enthusiastic about it.

"This looks really good, Gabe," Sam grinned at his boyfriend, taking his plate. Dean was already eating his before he sat down, making little appreciative noises.

Gabe blushed, sitting down at the table with the Winchester brothers. He'd always been proud of his cooking, and he was glad he could cook for Sam and Dean, because he didn't usually cook for people seeing as he lived alone. He tucked into the food without even thinking, and he stopped mid chew. What if the Winchesters said Grace? He looked at them nervously.

Sam and Dean never bothered to say Grace - before their dad died, he was away a lot, and he only used to say it because their mom had always said it, so they were never in the habit of it. Sam was quite religious, but never to that extent, and Dean just didn't believe in it at all.

Sam and Dean began to eat immediately, and they appreciated every bite.

"Gabriel, this is awesome," Dean told him, through a bite. Sam rolled his eyes at Dean - it was gross to talk with your mouth full. Sam nodded, however - Dean was right. It was great food.

He just smiled, waving the compliment off. "No one else in my house could cook, I learnt to cook when Cassie was young so he could have more than dry toast for breakfast. I started out only cooking for him, then my brother Luci, then the older brothers. I had to teach them all to cook before I moved out." He smiled at his plate, glad that they were enjoying the food.

Now he could only hope they'd enjoy desert.

Sam's smile widened a bit at that. "That was Dean until a few years back," Sam told him, with a laugh at Dean's reaction. He looked pretty surprised.

"Nah, we usually got takeout," Dean corrected, but Sam shook his head in response.

"If dad was away for longer than usual and we ran out of money, you'd find some ingredients to cook something, and it was always awesome," Sam argued - Dean didn't seem to have a response, so he changed the subject.

"So, you have a brother called Luci?" Dean framed the statement as a question.

"Well his name is Lucifer, but we all just call him Luci. We're un-identical twins but he's more outgoing and better at life than me." Gabriel laughed at the thought of his brother Lucifer sitting at a table being domestic rather than doing what he was currently doing, which was surfing around Hawaii with some natives learning the language and stuff. "And when I have little money my favourite thing to have is tomato soup and cheese toasties."

"Hey, Luci can't be better at life than you. You have a nerd to date," Dean joked, laughing when Sam swatted him with the tv remote - he'd stolen it from Dean but hadn't changed the channel. Dean was just picking the bacon from the chicken and eating it at that point, and very joyously so.

"Tomato soup and cheese toasties? That sounds awesome," Sam mentioned - he left the I'd love to try it with you sometime off of the sentence, for fear of it being too much of a 'chick flick' moment for Dean.

"We still usually only have take out," Dean admitted. Sam just shrugged.

"Well if you guys ever want a home cooked meal you know where I live. Casa del Gabriel is open to anyone. Especially my nerd and Castiel." He looked pointedly at Dean when mentioning Cas, and watched Dean's ears flush pink. "Hell Cas even has his own key, he could come round at any point, without even telling me he was coming..." As funny as it would be to see Dean's face if Cas walked in now, the only real reason Cas came round was he'd had an argument with Michael or Raphael and needed somewhere to crash, or he'd found a hurt animal and needed to nurse it bac to health.

Sam couldn't contain the grin on his face - his cheeks were hurting at that point. Dean was now obviously on edge, just in case Cas burst in for some reason or another.

"Hey, Gabe, maybe next time we're here, you should call Cas to join us too," Sam winked. Dean immediately glared at his brother, but looked away, playing it off very badly.

"I wouldn't. I wouldn't care. That'd be fine," Dean muttered under his breath.

"Oh, would you be? Maybe you'd prefer to be alone? Gaaabe, don't you think we should arrange for them to meet up at some point? Like a date?" Sam asked, with a smirk. Dean's eyes widened at him, and fell into one of the purest versions of the bitchface Sam had ever seen.

"Cas is free Saturday, he was going to come round here. Dean why don't you magically be here when Cas comes round and ask him out for coffee?" Gabriel offered, collecting the empty plate and putting them in the sink. As he ran the hot water he grabbed flour and eggs from a cupboard, along with some mixing bowls. "I hope you boys left enough room for desert." He asked, tapping the largest mixing bowl.

Sam lit up. "Desert?" he grinned - the brothers certainly were being treated. Dean had apparently not heard, though - he was a little busy with the whole asking Cas out idea. Sam smirked and left his brother to his thoughts, wandering into the kitchen again.

"Hey, need help with the dishes?" Sam asked - he felt weird being treated to dinner and not doing anything in return, and washing the dishes was something. Before Gabe could even answer he was manning the sink and finding something to clean with.

"I'M COMING OVER ON SATURDAY," Dean yelled from the living room, making Sam jump. He grinned at that.

Gabriel fluttered his hands at Sam, glaring playfully.

"Excuse me Mister you are a guest in my house and therefore you're not to be doing the washing up." He scooped a small bit of bubbles out of the sink and tapped it on Sam's nose. "If you want to do anything, just keep me company while I make the pie."

He carefully measured out the ingredients, tongue sticking out in vain concentration. He liked to be exact with his amounts. If the recipe wanted grams he wouldn't settle for

Sam pouted jokingly, wiping the tip of his nose. "Pie? Dean's gonna be happy about that," Sam grinned - Sam still had an overwhelming urge to kiss Gabe, but he wasn't going to do it while he was concentrating so hard.

"Did somebody say pie?" Dean yelled , followed by a little woop. Sam laughed.

"Told you he'd be pleased," he muttered. Sam set to staring at Gabe, just becaue he could. He was overwhelmingly beautiful - his eyes were focused, sharp and gorgeous. It kept hitting Sam that Gabriel was his he could hug him, kiss him, pick him up and spin him around whenever he damn well wanted to. Whenever he thought about it, he went into a mild state of shock, just frozen, unable to stop staring at his boyfriend.

Gabriel was finished weighing everything and his hands were covered in flour. He looked over at Sam and had an amazing idea. His eyes glittered cheekily as he grinned at Sam.

"You alright there Sammy boy? You're staring at me?" He walked towards Sam, holding his hands behind his back. Standing looking up at Sam he stood on tiptoes and kissed his boyfriend gently before reaching up and smearing flour down Sam's cheeks and the collar of his shirt.

Sam returned the kiss for just a second before realising what Gabriel had done, and he immediately sprang away, dragging his fingers down his cheek. They came away with flour all over them.

"Gabe," Sam practically growled, wiping the flour on his fingers on Gabe's face in retaliation. It was good humoured, however, and Sam was laughing - he'd had a very good idea.

He felt the shirt collar, and when it came away with flour on it, he sighed and began unbuttoning his shirt - he could hardly wear it now, could he?

As soon as he saw the first button get undone he felt his face get very, very hot. He hadn't really thought that through had he? Now Sam, Sam was stripping in his kitchen and there was nothing he could do (or wanted to do) about it. All he did was turn back to the pie mix and wink at Sam playfully.

"Yes, Sammy?"

Sam smirked, undoing the last few buttons and slipping the shirt off, using it to wipe his face clear of flour. "I'm gonna need to wash that, if that's alright?" he asked politely, just kinda placing the plaid on the kitchen counter, not really sure of anywhere else to put it. "I'll leave you to the pie, okay?" Sam told Gabriel - Dean must've been getting lonely, he thought with a smirk. He walked into the living room, already forgetting he was shirtless. Dean raised an eyebrow at his brother.

"Uh, you could've waited 'til I was gone," Dean smirked, shaking his head.

"Wha - oh! Right. Gabe got flour all over my shirt," he explained.

"And how'd he manage to do that?"

"Shut up."

"Thought so."

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

Gabe's cheeks were still a bright red as Sam left, and he turned back to slicing up apples for the pie's insides. Oh Jesus he thought. He was so gone for Sam that this was making him feel all weird and gooey and aaah Gabriel pay attention to the pie and not the Greek god of a man in the other room who just stripped off his shirt in front of you. At that moment though Gabriel began to scheme for ways to get Sam back.

Sam sat down with a sigh, the couch's material feeling weird against bare skin. "The pie looks good," Sam mentioned - Dean make a noise of appreciation. "What're we watching?"

"Shawshank Redemption. It's the middle of the movie but I don't care," Dean told him, sitting even closer to the television.

"How many times have you watched this movie?" Sam asked. Dean shook his head.

"Lost count after the first dozen."

"I still don't get why you call me a nerd."

"Because you are a nerd, nerd."

"Hypocrite."

"Hey, I'm a geek, if anything," Dean replied. Sam chuckled in response.

"Wow, you admitted it. Next time I see you you'll be playing dungeons and dragons."

"Shut up, Sammy."

Gabriel's ears pricked up.

"Did someone say Shawshank Redemption?" He peered round the doorway grinning. "This film is great!" He had his left hand behind his back, fingers clenched around some more flour. This is how he would pay Sam back. He snuck up behind Sam, watching him watch the film. Just before Sam could realise that Gabriel was behind him, he dumped the handful of flour all over Sam's hair and face.

Dean's eyes widened and a massive grin stretched across his face, letting out a laugh as Sam shook his head in shock, a puff of flour flying into the air.

"Jesus, Gabe!" he yelled, in a weird twilight zone between laughing and yelling. He raked his fingers through his hair to get some flour and stood up, throwing the flour into Gabriel's face and getting away quickly, trying not to get floured again.

Dean was enjoying the show - usually he'd kick the ass of anybody who did that to Sammy, but right now he couldn't stop laughing and he didn't see any reason not to just sit back and watch.

Gabriel was laughing as well, glad to have gotten Sam back for the shirt incident. He was freaking out at the same time because of the fact that Sam had shouted Jesus Gabe and was worried he'd actually really offended Sam. His heart sunk and he was really worried now. Oh no please please say he hadn't really offended Sam, please

Sam had a mischievous smirk on his face, though - hardly the expression of somebody who was upset. He calculated his next movement for a moment before running at Gabriel and tackling him onto the couch and shook his floury hair out like a wet dog right next to Gabe's face, practically giggling as he did so.

Dean felt a distinct need to avert his eyes at that, but he was still chuckling. His brother was an asshole, and apparently so was his boyfriend. Very amusing assholes, though.

Gabriel squealed actually squealed as Sam shook flour all over him. As Sam slowly stopped shaking the laughter subsided and Gabe looked up into Sam's face, grinning. This was the most fun he'd had in a long time, and he was very, very glad he was having it with Sam. Ignoring Dean, and using Sam's hair as a makeshift curtain he kissed Sam softly, ignoring the flour on his lips.

Sam kissed his back, just as softly - Dean made retching noises, since it was kind of obvious that they were kissing, even with a weird kind of 'curtain' to hide behind. Sam rolled off of Gabe, still kind of giggling half-heartedly, only just remembering that he was shirtless and he'd literally just tackled Gabe onto a couch like that. That made him a little flustered, he had to admit to himself, but he wasn't going to let anyone else know that.

"Alright guys, calm down. The movie's getting real good," Dean shushed, paying attention as Brooks was given parole and left the prison.

Gabriel shoved Sam off him and sat up, leaning up against Sam the whole time. This part of the film was heart wrenching. He threaded his fingers through Sam's, listening to Brooks' monologue, and watching the old man carve "Brooks was here" into the ceiling beams before hanging himself. Gabriel bit his lips and glanced up at his own ceiling beams. Then he got up.

"Gotta check on the pie." he said gruffly, hoping Sam wouldn't notice his discomfort.

Sam glanced at him boyfriend, a little confused, before realising that something was making him uncomfortable. "Give me a sec," Sam muttered to his brother, who gestured offhandedly. Sam took it as an okay, and scurried after Gabriel.

"Gabe? Are you okay?" he asked, very concerned - he hated seeing Gabriel upset. He hated it, and he'd do anything to make it stop. Sam took Gabe's left hand in his own, trying to be as much of a comfort as possible.

Gabriel wouldn't look Sam in the eye, instead he focused on the pie in the oven. "I... urgh. Sorry about that Sam, it's nothing, really." He looked up at Sam, golden eyes full of sadness. "I'll tell you later, I promise" he rose up on tip toes, kissing Sam on the cheek.

"Pie's done!" He called to Dean, pulling the pastry from the oven. He needed to tell Sam the truth but at the same time he did not want Dean to know.

Sam was a little freaked out by Gabriel's response, worried beyond measure for his boyfriend, but he supposed he didn't want Dean to know what was wrong - he would hold Gabriel to his promise, definitely. He nodded at him and squeezed his hand a little tighter before letting go and grinning at him.

Dean gave a whoop and ran into the kitchen, taking in a deep breath to take in the scent of the pie. "Smells good! Smells kinda like mom's," Dean grinned enthusiastically - Sam smiled at that, even if he wouldn't know.

"I'm glad my pie meets your expectations!" Gabriel chirruped and he grinned at Dean. He cut the pie into slices, sliding it into bowls and adding liberal amounts of cream to them. He handed them out, watching Dean dig in happily. If he could make both Winchesters happy, then he was happy.

Sam savoured his pie - it was great pie, without a doubt - but the whole time he ate, he couldn't stop thinking about how sad Gabriel had looked. It was wrong for such a cheerful person to look so sad. Dean seemed to notice something was up, and practically wolfed down his pie, as if he was eager to get out of the two's hair. Sam was thankful for that.

"You're a damn good baker, Gabriel," Dean told him with a grin, dropping his spoon onto his clean plate and stretching. "I've gotta get going, Bobby needed to talk to me and I need to be going now if I want to catch him in time. Thanks for the meal, man, and don't keep Sammy up too late. The nerd needs his rest," Dean smirked, standing up and getting ready to leave.

"See you tomorrow, then, Dean," Sam grinned at his brother, who nodded back at him.

"See you," he called back, as he left the house. There was silence for a few seconds.

"So, what was up?" he asked Gabriel.

Gabriel sat there in the kitchen, holding his own hands.

"It's better if I show you."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> th a nk you for read in n g even though cliff hanger l e l   
> come talk to us on tumblr!  
> Itch: synergygabriel / whodoesntlovesabriel  
> Abbie: synergysam


	6. Gabriel was... is here and is here to stay.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel has something to tell Sam :)

He grabbed Sam's hand, leading him into the front room and pointed to one of the ceiling beam about the back of the sofa. Engraved into the beam were the words "Gabriel was here" - very Shawshank-esque.

"That's why I didn't want Dean to know. Because I was, and still am a lot of the time, suicidal. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before Sam, but I didn't want to scare you away from me because I'm a screw up." tears welled up in his eyes and he finally told Sam about his mental health issues.

"But the day after I wrote that up there and tried to hang myself... I met you. And I've not tried it since."

Sam bit his lip, hard, at this news. He felt tears stinging his eyes and he looked away for a moment, trying to keep it together, before wrapping Gabriel in a tight hug, trying to hide Gabriel from the world as if it would stop him hurting, even if it wouldn't.

"So that's why you never believe me when I tell you how amazing you are," Sam muttered into Gabe's hair, through gritted teeth. "You. Are. Not. A screw up. I know you might not believe me, but you need to know that there is no way in hell you're a screw up. You're important, you're loved, you're needed, okay?" Sam whispered to his boyfriend - at some point, the tears must've started flowing without his permission. "I know I can't fix it with a few words, but I'm still going to try to teach you to love yourself. You're worth that. You're worth everything," he finished his little monologue there.

Gabriel felt the floodgates release and he let out a small sob, clutching onto Sam as if his life depended on it. He sobbed into Sam's chest, feeling weak and small.

"I screwed up with my family so many times, you know that only two of my siblings speak to me anymore." He choked on his words and finally his legs gave way, and he just sat on the kitchen floor, sobbing. This was it, Sam was going to leave in a minute or two because he was acting pathetic.

Sam slid down onto the floor with him, holding Gabe close to him. Sam was so glad he was staying the night - so, so glad. He kept shushing Gabe consolingly, whispering soothing words to him.

"Dean used to say 'family doesn't end in blood' a lot - I think somebody said that to him and it stuck - but after a while, when dad started getting scary, he'd add 'but it doesn't start there either.' the family who doesn't talk to you doesn't deserve you - Cas and Balthazar love you, and that's what matters. The rest of your family can eat shit," Sam spat, disgusted at Gabe's family for making him feel this way. He kissed Gabe on the forehead, letting him cry and let it out - there was no reason to tell him not to cry. That would be stupid, pointless and wrong. "You're worth it," he repeated, under his breath. It was important that Gabe knew that.

He rubbed his eyes hard, trying to stop crying. He felt so dumb right now. In the same day he'd become boyfriends with Sam, he'd told him that he'd wanted to off himself since he met Sam. Jesus Christ he was messed up. He shuffled around on the floor, sitting very close to Sam. He looked deep into Sam's eyes, a small smile forming.

"You, you really think I'm worth it?" His eyes were still watering but he felt safe and he felt loved, and he knew that Sam wouldn't just leave him.

Sam succumbed to his urge to kiss Gabriel, very lightly and softly, cupping his cheek with his right hand. It was only a few seconds long, but it was enough. "Without a doubt," Sam answered. "I'm not going to leave you, and I want to do something. Do you have a marker pen - ah, there's one," Sam gestured towards a marker in a little pot on the kitchen counter, stood up and grabbed it. He smiled a watery smile at Gabe and rushed into the living room, standing on his tiptoes to reach the ceiling beam - it was quite a small room.

He crossed out the 'was' in 'Gabriel was here' and replaced it with 'is', then wrote underneath 'and he's here to stay.' Sam smiled at the words and walked back into the kitchen, putting the pen back into its pot. "Perfect. You're stuck with me, and I'm stuck with you. I'm not going to have it any other way."

Gabriel stood up and looked at the change in wording on the ceiling. _Gabriel ~~was~~ is here and is here to stay. _ He flung himself at Sam, wrapping his arms round Sam's neck and crushing his lips against Sam's. It was chaste and probably bad timing but he didn't care, he loved Sam for everything he'd done and was doing and he wanted, needed, to show him.

Sam found himself a little surprised at the response, but melted into Gabriel a few seconds after the hesitation, kissing back with a small sigh. He hoped that meant Gabe was feeling a little better, at least for tonight. Sam picked Gabe up for the second time that night, but this time it was so he could lie down on the couch and arrange Gabe next to him so that they were cuddling comfortably, Sam's arms wrapped around Gabe.

He was vaguely aware he was still shirtless, but at that point it didn't matter at all.

"I still have flour in my hair, don't I?" Sam chuckled half-heartedly, kissing Gabe on his temple.

"Yes, yes you do." Gabe ran his hands through Sam's hair slowly, smiling at the softness. Flour was dislodged and it settled on the sofa but he didn't really care. He snuggled into Sam, purring quietly, peppering kisses across Sam's cheek. "You know that you're amazing right?" He said, playfully licking the tip of Sam's nose.

Sam leaned into Gabriel's touch as he ran his fingers through his hair. Sam never wanted him to stop doing that, especially when Gabe snuggled into him. It was warm and comfortable and it was everything.

"Aw, I wouldn't say that," Sam smiled, scrunching his nose up when Gabe licked it. "I'm just... Well, me," he concluded. The kisses on his cheek were oddly comforting and he couldn't deal with how adorable Gabriel was being. "You're way too cute to exist," Sam chuckled.

"Nah uh, you're the cutie." Gabriel grinned, back to his usual happy self, and he kept stroking Sam's hair as he felt him move into the touch. He nuzzled at Sam's temple before kissing it softly. Sam was the best thing that ever happened to him and he was going to damn well treat him right.

Sam wasn't sure if he'd ever felt this happy, this comfortable with another person before - sure, Dean had been the best big brother he could be, a real comfort when Sam was scared or upset, but this was so much different. He loved it and if Gabriel kept stroking his hair he was going to either combust on the spot or kiss the ever living daylights out of him. He leaned into Gabe's touch further, a sigh escaping his lips. He didn't realise how relaxing that would be. Gabe leant closer to Sam and kissed him softly, enjoying the comfort and the closeness. Sam was warm and huge compared to him, and he just felt completely at ease with Sam's arms around him.

Sam found himself kissing Gabe back a little bit harder than he'd intended - probably because of Gabe messing with his hair, so it was his fault, really. Gabe tasted of flour, but Sam didn't care in the slightest, kissing his boyfriend for all he was worth, and that was a lot. He tangled his fingers in Gabriel's hair, revelling in the softness. Gabriel let out a small moan, which made him blush, but he didn't stop kissing his amazing boyfriend. They were just lying there, hands tangled in each other’s hair, kissing on the sofa. It felt perfect and right, and Gabriel never ever wanted the moment to end. He found himself leaning into the kiss more, Sam's hands in his hair helping him get the angle right.

Sam was very, very proud of himself for drawing that little moan out of Gabe, but it also made acutely aware that he very much did not have a shirt on. He tried to ignore that small detail as he kissed his boyfriend senseless, enjoying every last second of the contact. He wasn't about to take it any further, though - not after what Gabe had told him. Everything would be Gabe's choice - Sam wouldn't force anything on Gabe, and would be tremendously happy with just this.

He made a small purring noise, snuggling himself closer to Sam, his right hand till tangled in Sam's floury hair, but his left hand gently stroking Sam's cheek, tracing his jaw bone. The gentle contact made him feel warm inside and safe, and he just want to be able to hold Sam, touch him, and show him that he's not going to break.

Sam sighed happily, withdrawing from the kiss - a little out of breath, but he steadied it within a few seconds - and his eyes fluttered closed. He felt like he could sleep for a year, knowing Gabe was next to him - but if he did go to sleep, he'd only want it to be for a short time. To get some energy, maybe. He definitely didn't want to waste the night by sleeping - they hadn't danced enough yet, hadn't kissed enough. Sam couldn't get enough of Gabriel, and he was sure as hell glad that he got to have him, got to love him and cherish hi - love? Sam felt heat rush to his face, but he agreed wholeheartedly with the sentiment. He loved Gabe, had done for a while.

Gabriel sighed as well and tucked his head under Sam's chin, his messy golden hair tickling Sam's nose. He felt completely at home just tucked against Sam, away from the world, as if it was only them in the whole world. He purred and wiggled, gently tickling Sam, enjoying the sounds of laughter this extracted from Sam. He was in love with Sam. He knew it, and he'd known it for a while, but he really did not have the balls to tell him.

Sam couldn't help but giggle softly as Gabe tickled him, squirming and wriggling away from him. "Aw, I already get this half the day from Charlie," he complained jokingly, grabbing Gabe's hands to stop them accosting him.

Sam suddenly remembered the flour in his hair, and propped himself up at the elbow to check the couch - it was covered in the stuff. Sam sighed, biting his lip.

"Ah, damn it, I'm sorry - I'll help you clean it - I need a shower first, though," Sam mused out loud, sounding more than a little annoyed with himself.

Gabe tried to wave it off, but of course didn't succeed due to his hands being held.

"It's fine, it's just a sofa. I'll hoover it up whilst you're in the shower. You remember where it is? Down the hall on the left." He nodded in the direction and wiggled away from Sam to give him enough space to get up. He felt humbled that Sam actually cared about the state of his living room, even though he really didn't need to.

Sam slipped by with a word of thanks and a squeeze of Gabe's hand, happy to get a chance to get the flour out of his hair, following Gabe's directions. His house was quite small, so it was easy to find. He grabbed the nearest towel he could find and folded it, ready for when he needed it.

Sam was pretty good at taking quick showers when he had to, so he spent maybe ten minutes or so washing his hair with shampoo that smelled distinctly of Gabe's hair before finishing up, checking in the mirror to see whether all the flour was out of his hair. When he was sure it was, he towelled his hair so it wasn't sopping wet and wound the towel around him - his bag was still on the couch, he was pretty sure, and he made sure there was a spare change of clothes in his school bag at all times, just in case.

While Sam was gone, Gabriel hovered up the sofa and the living room floor, ridding the room of flour before heading into the kitchen, having another mouthful of lukewarm pie and beginning to do the washing up. As he rubbed the dishes clean and put them on the drying rack he sang softly, dancing as well. This was how he liked to do housework, with a song and dance, like his life was an overplayed Disney movie. He'd moved Sam's bag into the kitchen, setting it on a chair where it wouldn't be in the way of his cleaning.

Sam stretched and yawned - the warmth of the water had made him pretty tired. He guessed that Gabriel wouldn't mind if Sam grabbed his bag with just the towel on, so he walked down the hall without much of a care. "Hey, where's my bag? Is it in there?" Sam called, once he saw that his bag wasn't on the couch anymore. He shrugged and peeked his head around the door, spotting the bag. "Ah. I've got spare clothes in there, so," Sam explained, grabbing the bag with a grin to Gabe.

Gabriel nearly dropped the plate he was drying when he saw Sam come into the room wearing only a towel. Oh my god this was ridiculous. Sam was not allowed to be this damn attractive all the time without even really putting in the effort. Gabe could try to make himself look slimmer and fitter but it never worked, but then Sam could just waltz in here six pack and everything looking wonderful.

"Clothes yeah, everyone needs, clothes." He stumbled over his words, brain short circuiting.

Sam shot him a bemused look, trying not to laugh. "Y - yeah? I... agree?" Sam couldn't help but chuckle at his flustered boyfriend, leaning over to flick him gently on the forehead before grabbing his bag and going back into the bathroom to change - it was just an old tank and a hoodie to go over the top, and a pair of worn jeans. Just comfortable clothes, and Sam was happy to get in them. With a pleased sigh, he brought his bag back into the kitchen and put it on the chair again, and kissed Gabe on the cheek. "You're cute when you're flustered," he smirked.

He scrunched up his nose. "Excuse me Sammy." He poked out his tongue at Sam, giggling. With damp hands he cupped Sam's face and kissed him softly, enjoying the soft feeling of Sam's lips under his. "I was only flustered because you are one hot piece of arse and I am bit a small chubby baker." He started putting away the dry plates, stretching up to reach the high shelves.

Sam felt heat rush immediately to his face at that comment. "You're hot as all hell, moron," Sam told his boyfriend, and truthfully - he'd been plagued by how awesome Gabe looked for a damn year, and he wasn't going to let Gabriel think that he didn't look amazing. "Your eyes, hair, your face, you could kill me with a look," Sam muttered, kissing Gabe on the top of his head. Sam grabbed the plates Gabe was trying to put on the high shelf and put them up there for him, smirking.

He rolled his eyes at Sam using his height to an advantage and wrapped his arm round Sam's waist, looking up at Sam through his dark eyelashes.

"I know you could kill me with a look, you're way hotter than me. On a scale of one to ten I am around a three and you are an eleven." He smiled wider and sighed. "Thank you for putting the plates on the high shelf."

Sam stared down at his boyfriend, a kind of dull sadness in his eyes. "I wish you could see what I see," he sighed, pressing his lips to Gabe's forehead. "How beautiful you really are. Truly. Damn it, Gabe, I -" love you, he finished the sentence in his head, but he couldn't say the words out loud for some odd reason.

It didn't matter. He would say the words eventually. He had time, hopefully. "You're easily a nine, at least," Sam winked, peppering Gabriel's adorable stupid face with chaste kisses.

"Even if I'm a nine you're still a solid eleven." He grinned and squirmed due to the kisses and the sudden feeling he was being watched. He looked down at the kitchen floor and spotted Alfie giving them a death stare as if he was trying to say "excuse me humans but why are you paying attention to you and not to me?" He laughed at the cat's indignant face.

Sam glanced at the angry cat and laughed too, grinning and picking the cat up for the second time that night, scratching behind his ear. Alfie gave a little mew of appreciation and nudged Sam's hand with his head, purring.

"Do you starve this cat of attention or what?" Sam joked. The cat mewled again as if in answer, making Sam laugh. "Aww, is Gabe mean to you? Want me to take you home?" he asked the cat, giggling when the cat just batted at him in response. "Rude!"

"I take great care of Alfie!" He pouted at Sam pathetically. He really loved his cat. His pouting sad face was too sad, and Sam leant over to give him a soft kiss.

"Sam, uh, I wanna tell you something, but I'd like to tell you it, sitting down, without my cock block of a cat." Without waiting for a response he scurried into the front room.

Sam's brow furrowed in confusion, but he obliged, letting the 'cockblock of a cat' down. Alfie scurried off, probably about to curl up in a random corner or something, and Sam scooted into the front room, slumping into the couch next to his boyfriend. "What's up?" he asked, with a smile.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter means a l o t to me and abbs and its just a really nice chapter okay <3  
> Come talk to us on Tumblr!  
> Itch: synergygabriel / whodoesntlovesabriel  
> Abbie: synergysam


	7. I Just Wanna Say That...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel has something to say, Sam has something to say BACK, and they had themselves a cuddle :3c

Gabriel sat cross legged staring at Sam. "I just... wanna.... IjustwannasaythatIloveyou." He stumbled over his words, feeling his face get red hot, and he face planted into the sofa, trying to hide from Sam.

Sam's eyes widened at that, breath hitching at the words. Damn it, Gabriel was gorgeous, he was adorable, and he loved him? Sam wondered whether he'd sold his soul in the past few months, because it sure as hell felt like it.

"Hey, hey, hey," Sam tried to soothe when Gabe face planted, a tiny smile on his face which he couldn't get right of. "I was trying to say that, but it didn't - it didn't come out. So, I love you, too, Gabe," Sam told him finding it more than a little difficult to kiss the idiot when his face was hidden. "C'mon, come up for air," he snickered. He sat up, looking shell shocked at the fact Sam had said it back.

"You - you love me too?" He whispered, staring at Sam in amazement. "You honestly mean that? You honestly love me?" He reached out blindly, placing his hands on Sam's shoulders.

Sam grinned and wrapped his arms around Gabriel, placing a hand on the small of his back to bring him closer. "Have done for a good, long while now," Sam muttered to him, leaning forward to kiss the idiot - his idiot, mind. He was just so in awe of what had happened in such a short time, and he was so immensely happy with all of it. It was overwhelming, but in the most perfect way. He kissed him back, purring softly, snuggling into Sam's warmth. He felt warm and safe and comfortable, and all he wanted to do is stay here, kissing Sam, snuggling in his arms, running his hands through Sam's long hair, and feeling Sam move closer to him as he did.

Sam did not want to admit that the little sound he'd just made was a moan, so he didn't blush and stop kissing his gorgeous boyfriend, something which he also definitely did not want to do. Sam wished they could stay like that forever, tangled in each other's arms, happy and warm and comfortable, even if Sam's skin and hair was still a little damp from the shower. Gabriel maneuvered himself so he was sitting in Sam's lap, still sweetly kissing his boyfriend. His golden hair was a mess, traces of flour still clinging to the strands unlike Sam's damp hair that was curling at the nape of his neck. Gabe just enjoyed stroking Sam's hair despite the dampness, loving the closeness.

"I love you." He mumbled against Sam's lips mid kiss. Sam smiled against Gabe's lips, revelling in those words. He would never, ever get enough of those words. Nor would he get enough of those lips, those eyes, his laugh, his smile - his everything. He needed everything that was Gabriel like he needed air at that point - he wasn't sure when his fingers had ended up tangled in Gabe's hair, but they had - softer that cat fur, he thought happily.

Gabriel leant into the kiss further, taking it slightly deeper. He needed to be close to Sam. He revelled in the feeling of Sam's hand tangling in his hair, catching and pulling slightly but he didn't mind, Sam could do anything to him and he would go along with it, as long as Sam was the one doing it. His fingers played with the dry parts of Sam's hair. How the hell did Sam get his hair to be so soft? He thought to himself.

Sam couldn't help but part his lip slightly against Gabe's, a soft sound making its way out of Sam - he was finding it difficult to keep quiet, especially when Gabe was messing with his hair so much, something that he absolutely adored. Gabe just seemed to instinctively know how to make him weak at the knees, and Sam loved it. Gabriel-the-ever-cheeky had an idea. As he felt Sam's lips part slightly he trapped Sam's bottom lip between his teeth and nibbled softly whilst gently tugging on Sam's hair. This is what he needed right now, the heady earthy scent of Sam filling his nostrils and being able to feel nothing around him but Sam. 

Sam felt himself melt into Gabriel and let out another one of those stupid, breathy sounds - at that point he didn't even care, just let it happen - and practically pushed Gabe over so that they were laying on the couch together, enveloping Gabriel in his arms. "Jesus, you have no idea what you do to me," Sam muttered against Gabe's lips, once Gabe released his bottom lip.

"Why don't you tell me then Sammich?" Gabriel winked playfully and stuck his tongue out at his boyfriend, taking pleasure in the small noises Sam was making. So far he could gauge that Sam liked it when he plated with his hair, and liked it when his bottom lip was bitten. What else could he find out about Sam?

Sam smiled at his boyfriend, leaning his forehead against Gabe's. "I wonder how many times I've seen you sitting in whatever class, trying to puzzle something out or laughing at some stupid joke somebody told, and I thought to myself, 'I could just kiss him right now.' Always in the back of my mind, and it was the worst thing," Sam told him, his voice low and quiet. "I can't believe you didn't tell me you weren't straight, or I would've gone for this way sooner," he grinned, shaking his head.

"I can't believe you thought I was straight. Hell why didn't you ask Charlie she knew I was gay!" He pushed his nose against Sam's cutely. "Every time I saw you at school laughing with your friends or in the library doing some work I just wanted to go over to you and kiss you gently. I can't believe I thought you were straight, how did no one know?" He giggled, pinned below Sam

Sam chuckled, shaking his head. "I think only Charlie and Jo really knew that I was something other than straight, but I haven't really made it a widely-known thing. You and Dean are now officially the only two people who know that I'm demi," Sam confessed, pecking Gabe on the cheek. "And I didn't ask Charlie because I was almost certain she would lie to get me to go over to you and ask you out - I wasn't sure if she'd just say 'oh, he's gay!' so that I'd go do it even if you might end up being straight..." Sam bit his lip. "I was just. Nervous. Okay, a bit more than nervous, I was terrified," Sam admitted, with a little awkward smile.

"Well Sammy my dear it looks like in the future you just need to ask." And then something dawned on Gabe. Where was Sam going to sleep? Whenever he'd slept over before it was during a movie marathon with the group and they'd all passed out on the living room floor together surrounded by popcorn and sweet wrappers. But this time he was staying here as Gabriel's boyfriend. Should he sleep in the same bed? Would Sam want to? "Sam... Where are you gonna sleep tonight?"

Sam thought for a second and felt himself a blush a bit. "Well, since we're together now, I'd love to sleep in your bed, but if that isn't okay with you I can just crash on the couch," Sam mused out loud, with a nod. It made sense to make sure Gabriel was comfortable with anything Sam tried to do that might be out of his comfort zone - it would be way too much to make him uncomfortable and end up scaring him away. He bit his lip nervously at that thought.

Gabriel beamed, the smile lighting up his face. "I would be honoured if you would sleep with me. Can we go get bed ready now? I'm feeling a little bit sleepy and I'd uh... liketocuddleforalittlewhile." He blushed and hid his face in his hands. Gosh he sounded like such a child, tripping over his words and not being able to string a sentence together.

Sam had to get over the implications of that first sentence pretty quickly to respond to how unbearably adorable his boyfriend was being. "Sure, yeah. Uh - I don't have any pjs or anything, so I guess all just sleep in those tracksuit bottoms I was wearing today. They're better than the jeans, at least," Sam kept thinking out loud, but it didn't really matter. "Yeah. Get comfortable and I'll be there in a second, okay?" Sam grinned, getting off of Gabriel and going off to find something to sleep in.

Gabriel scurried off to his bedroom and pulled on his pyjamas - which were baggy plaid tracksuit bottoms and an oversized t-shirt with the phrase "You've been Loki'd" on. Yawning widely Gabe climbed into the double bed and nested himself in three of his blankets. He was worried on how Sam would react to the fact his bed wasn't pillows and duvets but cushions and blankets and plushies. Hoping Sam wouldn't mind, Gabriel waited for his boyfriend to come join him in bed.

When Sam came into the room with a stretch and a yawn, he was delighted to see how comfortable the bed looked, just full of everything plush and soft, not to mention his boyfriend. He wasn't used to a bed that looked so comfy, and he grinned.

"It looks so... soft," Sam smiled, walking towards so that he could feel the material of one of the blankets. Once he'd done that, he immediately rolled onto the bed with a happy sigh, wigging in between an unbeknownst amount of blankets and curling up like a cat, holding his arms out in invitation for Gabe to wiggle over and cuddle. Gabriel was so happy to see that Sam was comfortable on his bed. He wiggled over to Sam and nestled in his arms, making purring noises like an oversized cat. He dragged his favourite blanket over with him, a bright gold one that matched his eyes that had been a birthday gift from Sam. Sam was so huge that cuddling up in his arms was easy, Gabriel fit perfectly into Sam's arms like the missing piece of a jigsaw

Sam pulled Gabe as close as possible to himself, with a satisfied little sigh, resting his chin on the top of Gabe's head. The purring was adorable and Sam smiled sleepily when he heard it, planted quick kiss on the top of Gabe's head before setting back into position, taking in Gabe's room. All he could really see was the sea of blankets and plushes, and - wait, didn't he buy Gabriel that blanket? He still used it? Sam's smile got even wider at that thought.

Gabriel pulled the golden blanket closer, holding it like a plush toy. "You got me this one remember? It's my favourite blanket" he blushed and hid his face in the blanket, his mop of golden hair blending in with the fleece. He'd thought his bed was comfy every other night but right now with Sam was the most comfortable he'd ever been.

Sam's eyes fluttered closed, the smile still on his face. "Yeah, I remember," he murmured. "I think I got that about two months in advance because I saw it and thought, Gabriel needs to have that," he chuckled sleepily. He hoped that when he slept, he wouldn't wake up with his own shrill alarm going off, alone in his own bed, finding that it'd all been a happy dream. He held Gabe just a bit tighter, praying that wouldn't be the case. "Hey, Gabe. Pinch me so I can tell I'm not dreaming," he muttered quietly.

Gabe chuckled sleepily and kissed Sam's arm gently.

"Sam my dear I'm not going to pinch you." He grinned and snugged backwards into Sam, closing his eyes and started to drift off to sleep. He really hoped this wasn't a dream... he wanted to be able to wake up tomorrow still cuddled in Sam's arms clutching the golden blanket. This was the best day of his life and he didn't want it to end. Eventually he drifted off to sleep, comforted by the sounds of Sam breathing.

Sam only really thought of getting to sleep when he heard Gabriel's breathing steady, and loosened his grip on Gabe a little. He reminded Sam of the ragged old stuffed animal he used to need to get to sleep as a kid - he'd lost that, but he wasn't going to lose Gabe. He couldn't lose Gabriel. He didn't want to. He found himself drifting off to sleep, a sweet feeling of contentment washing over him, and his last thought before sleep came was, I wonder what Gabe is dreaming about?

 

It felt like just five minutes later that Sam woke up with a jump - not because of an alarm, but because something in his dream had shocked him awake. It was still dark, and Sam felt a small pang of terror when he realised he didn't recognise the room, only to remember that it was Gabriel's and relax again.

Gabriel woke with a start when Sam woke up and he groaned softly, rolling over and burying his face in Sam's chest.

"Sam, you alright?" He mumbled sleepily, getting comfortable in the new sleeping position. Had Sam had a nightmare? Was he okay? Gabe was used to having his own nightmares, and dealing with other peoples, heck he'd had his twin brother Lucifer come into his room sobbing at am on numerous occasion because he'd had a nightmare and he knew Gabe could make it better. He purred again gently, thinking it might relax Sam.

Sam swallowed and tried to regain control of his breathing - whatever had been in his dream, it had freaked him out. Something to do with fire - fire had always freaked him out quite a bit. "M'fine," Sam murmured, a little annoyed at himself for waking Gabe up. "M'fine. Just a dream. Sorry, g'back to sleep," he continued quietly with a sigh, taking one of Gabe's hands and rubbing soothing circles over it. He shouldn't push his problems on other people, not when they had their own problems to deal with, he thought with a small sigh. He was just glad Gabe was here. He nosed Sam's jaw softly, peppering kisses along the bone.

"C'mon Sammy if you need to talk I'm right here." He reached up with his free hand and started to stroke Sam's hair soothingly, either trying to get him to talk to trying to get him to tell Gabe what had happened. He wouldn't pry too much, but he knew from experience that getting things of your chest felt better than hiding them and he needed Sam to know that he could to him.

Sam felt the feeling of safety flood back into him, sighing in relief as the feeling came back. "S'nothing. Just 'n old nightmare. Fire," he explained vaguely, with a shrug. Encasing fire. Everywhere. Screaming from somewhere, a mess of heat and smoke and soot and coughing - but hey, at least it wasn't clowns, right? Besides, it was just a dream. It wasn't real, no matter how real in felt. Sam squeezed Gabe's hand just a little tighter.

Gabe shifted about a bit, rolling over Sam to lay behind him. He tugged Sam a little bit, pulling him so that Sam was using his chest as a pillow. "I got you Sammy, you're safe here." He pressed a kiss into Sam's hair, still gently stroking it, trying to slowly lull Sam back off to sleep. If he had to, he'd stay awake all night just petting Sam making sure that he got enough sleep.

Sam snuggled into Gabriel, burying his face in his chest. Something about that was just so comforting - Sam hadn't felt this kind of intimate comfort in a while. "Okay," the murmured. "Just make sure you get sleep, too," he told Gabriel, his voice still quiet and soft - he could already feel himself drifting off again a little, which was a surprise - it usually took him quite a while to get back to sleep after a nightmare. It was probably just Gabe's presence keeping him calm, he thought.

Gabe just nodded. "Sure Sammy, I will." he tucked his face into Sam's hair, inhaling the smell of his own shampoo and something that was purely Sam, forcing himself to stay awake long enough that he knew that Sam had gone back to sleep. For a while Gabe just laid there, Sam's head on his chest, listening to the gentle sound of Sam's breathing. Once he was certain Sam was asleep he closed his eyes, letting himself fall asleep.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who sucks at uploading sUEME  
> Come talk to us on Tumblr!  
> Abbie: synergysam  
> Itch: synergygabriel / whodoesntlovesabriel


	8. Not Well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone's a bit s i c k

They stayed like that until the morning alarm went off, and the unfamiliar sound made Sam snap awake even faster than usual, lifting his head to check what it was. "Wha - oh," Sam muttered, with a smile, setting the alarm to snooze, just in case Gabriel wanted to sleep a little longer. He planted a kiss on Gabe's forehead before stretching and getting out of bed, a small smile on his face. Even in the morning he still couldn't believe it. He was with Gabriel Novak. He just kissed Gabriel Novak on the forehead, after he slept in Gabriel Novak's bed, cuddled up to Gabriel Novak. It was beyond his belief, truly.

Gabe woke up on the alarm too, and wondered why it had turned off before he touched it. He sat up, hair standing on ends, peering at the alarm clock. And then he remembered. Sam Winchester had spent the night. He turned, looking for Sam, and saw him standing by the bed.

"G'morning beautiful." Gabe said before wrapping the golden blanket round his shoulders and shuffling off the bed onto the floor. He needed coffee and breakfast, stat.

Sam grinned at his - at his boyfriend, ruffling his hair. "G'morning, gorgeous. You look in desperate need of some caffeine," he informed Gabe, with a smirk. He tried to remember where he'd put his clothes, and remembered that he'd folded them and left them on the couch. He nodded to himself and stretched again. "It's too early," he grumbled, but he didn't really mind too much - he was starting to feel the cold, so he made his way to the front room to grab his clothes and set to changing in the bathroom. Gabriel trailed after him, snuggled in the blanket still. This was how every morning went for him. Wake up, put blanket on, have coffee, eat yesterday’s desert leftover for breakfast, go to school. Perfect routine for him. He turned the kettle on and flopped down at the kitchen table feeling rough. Obviously he didn't get enough sleep last night.

Sam's morning routine was generally get up before Dean, either eat some kind of fruit, or more often skip breakfast altogether, and then go to school - there wasn't really much variation. He cracked his knuckles once he was done dressing and went to find Gabriel, who was sitting at the kitchen table, looking very off. He sighed, shaking his head. "You didn't get enough sleep," he concluded. "You didn't have to stay awake. I was fine," Sam told him - Gabe was going to be dead on his feet by the end of the school day.

Sam grabbed his phone and texted 'meet me at Gabe's whenever' to Charlie, who would not appreciate being left to walk alone. The reply came immediately.

_WAIT ONE DAMN SECOND SAM WINCHESTER, YOU MEAN TO TELL ME YOU STAYED OVER AT HIS HOUSE!?' <_

Sam groaned. Of course they forgot to tell Charlie. Of course they did.

Gabriel got up and made himself a cup of coffee which he overloaded with sugar before sitting back down and starting to drink it. He felt better on the first mouthful but he knew that he would be falling asleep in his last period. He mumbled something along the lines of "It's no problem" and took the cup back to his bedroom to get dressed. Nothing special just some jean and a t-shirt. Debating it for a small while, he picked up the hoodie Sam had leaned him yesterday. "Can I wear this again?" He asked, hair still all over the place, sticking up at odds angles

Sam rubbed the spot above his left eyebrow, where headaches started for him. "Yeah, sure, that's fine," he muttered with a nod, not really hearing what Gabe was asking, texting back rapidly, trying to calm Charlie down.

_SAM WINCHESTER <_

_> Charlie, chill out. I stayed over, no big deal._

_SAM WINCHESTER SCORED-CHESTER <_

_> That doesn't even make sense, Charlie._

_SAM WINCHESTER WONCHESTER <_

_> I literally just stayed the night. My brother was here half the time. You can seriously calm down._

_DID YOU DO THE DO? <_

_> NO, Charlie. Oh my god._

_DID YOU CUDDLE?? <_

_> Charlie, I'm just going to stop talking to you._

_THAT MEANS YOU CUDDLED <_

Sam didn't answer that last text, and muted his phone. "Sorry, what was the question - oh, the hoodie. Yeah, sure you can wear it!" he grinned at his boyfriend.

"Is that Charlie?" He chuckled, shrugging the hoodie on and yawning widely. God he was tired. He stared at his reflection in the microwave and patted his hair down a bit before picking up his phone. He couldn't find his hair brush - hadn't been able to in a few weeks, and was used to showing up at school with hair that looked like he'd been dragged through a bush backwards.

He texted Jo quickly.

 _> Come to mine this morning we're walking with Sam and Charlie Chatbury._ The reply was instantaneous.

 _Already on my way to yours. <_ He grinned, tucking his phone into the hoodie pocket. Jo was great.

Sam glanced up, sighing. "Yeah. Charlie's going insane," he told him, slipping his phone into his pocket. He noticed that Gabe was patting his hair down and Sam stood up, running his fingers through Gabe's hair, helping him tame it a bit. He didn't really need to brush his own hair - it just did it's own thing, usually. He pecked Gabe on the cheek in the process, nuzzling against him.

Gabe grinned and stood on tiptoes, making it easier for Sam to give him affection. Gabriel fucking loved people being affectionate, cuddling, petting his hair the lot. He wrinkled his nose at Sam and kissed him on the cheek.

"My hair does its own thing in the morning, it's so dumb." he poked his tongue out before yawning again widely. "Jo's on her way as well, we have an entire posse for the morning school walk."

Sam's laugh sounded more like a giggle. "And one of the posse'll be screaming," he muttered, leaning down to nuzzle Gabe's neck. He was in a very affectionate mood. "Love you," he murmured into his skin, going to far as to lift him up into the air and spin him around once or twice, with a laugh. He wasn't sure why, but his happiness seemed to be coming out all at once.

Gabe squeaked as he felt his feet come off the floor and he instinctively wrapped his legs round Sam's waist.

"Love you too" He whispered, pressing a soft kiss to Sam's mouth. Despite his sleepiness this morning was turning out to be perfect, just him and Sam being cute together, like he'd always wanted it to be. Sometimes he'd been annoyed at being so short but right now it was amazing, because it meant that Sam could do things like this, pick him up and hold him.

Sam chuckled, hitching Gabe up a little further. "Oh, look at that, you're taller than me," he laughed, eyes shining. It was a very weird angle to see Gabe at, used to looking down to meet his eyes.

A knock on the door made Sam jump enough to almost drop Gabe, but thankfully he didn't, and was able to place him down gently.

"C'mon. Let's hope our eardrums don't burst," Sam grinned, making his way to the door.

Gabriel jogged to keep up with Sam. Before he opened the door he grabbed hold of Sam's hand.

"Here goes nothing." he opened the door and Charlie bounded through, tackling Sam. Due to the hand holding Gabriel was thrown backwards as well with a laughing shout of "good morning to you too Charlie!"

Sam had been expecting that, but it didn't make hurtling backwards any less of a shock. He laughed at his friend - Dean was right, his friends were nerds. "Hi, Charl -" he tried to greet, even if he knew it would be to no avail.

"OH MY GOD, YOU DORKS DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU TWO PUT ME THROUGH, JO HAD TO STEAL MY PHONE AND HOLD ME BACK A FEW TIMES AND IT'S BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T TEXT ME ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU TWO," she yelled. Sam flinched at the noise, but there was a smile on his face.

"Sorry?" he framed the apology as a question, giggling to himself.

Gabriel just stood there staring at Charlie who was screaming at Sam. He was pretty taken aback but the loudness, but soon he was laughing too. "Charlie if you're like this now then I feel sorry for my eardrums when we kiss." He let go of Sam's hand and went to close the door, but as he did Jo showed up.

"Ah, the squad is all here."

"When you ki - fuck my entire life," Charlie hissed, turning away from Sam and throwing her hands up in defeat, although she was grinning and her eyes were shining. Sam gave himself a moment to compose himself before smiling at Jo.

"Hey. I guess we're all set, then?" Sam asked the group. "Then let's head off, yeah?"

"I am going to embarrass the crap out of both of you. I have so. Many. Stories. About both of you," Charlie grinned mischievously.

"Whatever Charlie." Gabriel joked, shoving his shoes on and reaching out for Sam's hand. "How you doing Jo?" He asked, trying to make normal conversation. "Tell Sam whatever you want, I don't got anything to hide."

Charlie pouted. "You're no fun," she joked, and laughed when Sam swatted at her. "But I do need details about what happened yesterday if I want this fanfiction to be true-to-life," she mentioned - so she was still hooked on that idea. Sam rolled his eyes at his friend as they headed out the door. Sam ended up taking Gabe's hand, biting back laughter when Charlie bit her lip and started whispering very fast at Jo, rather than to Jo.

"Well we admitted we liked each other, kissed a little bit, cuddled at night etc." He grinned and squeezed Sam's hand. He was going to say 'nothing special' but it was special, it really was. Jo wasn't really listening to Charlie, Jo probably had enough of her incessant talking yesterday.

Sam giggled when Charlie covered her face with her hands. "You guys are so cute oh my gosh," she squealed. Sam rolled his eyes again - it was all he could do when Charlie got like this.

"Your voice is so high right now, only dolphins can hear you," Sam informed her. Charlie flicked him on the nose, and Sam laughed.

Gabriel just squeezed Sam's hand jogged along beside him on the way to school. He felt a little bit out of his depth listening to Charlie's squealing. Last night had been so perfect, so peaceful and quiet with Sam, and now the hustle and bustle of the outside world was making him feel a bit claustrophobic and out of his depth.

Sam squeezed Gabriel's hand right back, looking over at him to check whether he was okay. Charlie could be a little intense, after all - seeing the slight discomfort in Gabe's eyes, he planted a kiss on his boyfriend's temple in hopes it would calm him down a little. "It's alright," he muttered to Gabe, with a little smile. Charlie had obviously bitten her lip to try and shut up at that point - she could sense when something was up, at least.

He smiled weakly, just not feeling his normal self. Maybe it was because he was tired, maybe he was coming down with something, but he didn't know. All he knew was that he did not feel good. He held onto Sam's hand even as they approached the school.

"Should we let go or just let anyone at school see and ask questions if they want to?" he asked Sam regarding the hand holding situation. The only friends he had were walking with him right then, meaning there was no one else he needed to tell about their relationship; well apart from his brothers

Sam thought about it for a few seconds - he hadn't told anybody he was demi, but that was less out of fear and more because there hadn't been a reason to. Sure, there were some serious dicks at school who were likely to find it hilarious to ask them awkward questions, or worse, but that didn't matter to Sam. If they did that to Gabe, he'd kick their asses into next Sunday. Sam's grip on Gabe's hand tightened.

"I don't see any reason why we shouldn't just be honest. I don't want to end up having to avoid you," Sam told him. "As long as you're comfortable with that," he added on the end, just in case Gabe did mind.

"I don't mind, I'm used to being known as that weird kid." He grinned cheerfully at Sam, trying to ignore the wave of nausea he felt come over him. Maybe he'd gotten sick from yesterday when he was out for a while without a coat? Oh dear. He kept walking proudly holding Sam's hand though taking comfort in the fact they had English, PE and Citizenship together today. He could see Sam in lessons then at lunch. This would be great.

Sam grinned at Gabe, ruffling his hair with his other hand. "You're my weird kid," he laughed, not noticing that anything was wrong. "Uh, we're in English first, right? Or am I being a moron?" he asked, the question aimed generally at any one of the group.

"Uh, yeah, I think so," Jo answered, with a nod. Sam grinned at that.

"Good." He kept noticing people's eyes lingering across him and Gabriel a little longer than it was possible, and stood a little taller, as if daring anybody to say something.

Gabriel shrunk under the gazes, not really wanting any attention. He knew that he could hide behind Sam if he needed to but at the same time he wasn't sure if he wanted to. Together the squad sauntered into the English classroom and sat down in their usual seats, all four together at a table. Despite the chattiness of this seating arrangement, the teacher couldn't deny that all the work and more got done. Gabriel put his head on the desk and groaned softly to himself.

Sam immediately turned towards the dejected noise, a look of concern on his face. "Hey, Gabe, you alright?" he asked quietly - the teacher was talking and wouldn't take kindly to being interrupted. He grab his hand without really thinking and set to rubbing soothing circles on the back of his hand.

Gabe sat up sharply, grabbing his pen and scribbled something down. "Yeah. No. I don't feel well." He whispered, gripping Sam's hand tightly as he wrote some stuff down. Luckily, Gabe was left-handed, meaning they could hold hands and still write, meaning the teacher wouldn't notice.

Sam sighed. "It was probably you being way too cold for so long yesterday," Sam muttered, with a sigh. "You've gotta look after yourself and wrap up when it's like this. You're only small," he told his boyfriend.

He heard a snigger from behind him, and his blood ran cold, eyes darting over to see that asshole Gordon nudging his friends and pointing. Sam rolled his eyes and got back to making sure his boyfriend was okay.

Gabriel was just ignoring the laughter, he was used to people laughing at him. He just sat there writing whatever the English teacher told him to write. He just wanted the day to go by so he could go home and snuggle in his blankets and make himself feel better. He felt very very sick.

"I just wanna go home."

Sam checked to see whether everybody was looking away, and quickly pecked Gabe on the cheek when he knew they were all concentrating or other things. "I know. At lunch we can go to your house and get you some tablets, some layers, and hot chocolate or something, okay?" he told his boyfriend. Sam couldn't help but worry, and tried his best to make Gabe feel at least somewhat better. He kept glaring at Gordon's gang randomly, because they'd really pissed him off by laughing.

"That sounds great." He smiled softly before gripping Sam's hand tighter. Luckily the lesson was nearly over and he'd be away from Gordon and his gang but at the same time pain shot through his stomach. He was going to be sick He got up, stumbling slightly and ran out the room to the nearest bathroom. He almost did a power slide as he got to a stall and threw up violently. He was very ill.

Sam's eyes widened as his boyfriend got up and ran out, hesitating for a couple seconds before saying, "I'll check up on him," in the general direction of the teacher and ran out after him, knowing he'd be in the nearest bathroom and finding him very quickly. "Gabe? Gabe, are you - oh, Gabriel," he muttered when he saw how damn sick he was. "Gabe, you need to get home, we need to get you home," he repeated, kneeling down and rubbing his back.

He whimpered softly and reached out blindly for some tissue. "Need wipe mouth. Need to go home." He groaned and blew his nose. He leant back, feeling his stomach stopping hurting finally. "Can you take me home?" He whined, leaning back against Sam. "Please. I don't want to be on my own." He sniffed slightly, reaching over to flush the toilet. Great, they'd been together for less than a day and he was now throwing up

Sam nodded, grabbing a tissue for Gabe and hugging him around the shoulders. "There's no way I'm not taking you home," he whispered, kissing the side of his head. "I need to get our bags and stuff, okay? Okay? I'll be just a second," Sam soothed, as he walked out of the bathroom. He sprinted back to class and got there in less than a minute, slipping in quickly to grab the bags and whisper 'send us your notes if anything important comes up' to Jo and Charlie, and make his way back to Gabriel.

Gabriel stood up wonkily and staggered through the bathroom into the corridor. He leant against the wall groaning softly waiting for Sam to come back. His vision began to go blurry and he felt him losing balance. Shit He hadn't been sick in a while meaning he'd forgotten all the symptoms that come with to. Vomiting and fainting were two of them. The last thing he remembered before blacking out was seeing Sam come back round the corner holding his stuff.

Sam's eyes widened and he dropped their bags in his rush to get to Gabe, dropping to his knees and picking Gabriel up, cradling him in his arms like he would Alfie and immediately pressing a kiss to his forehead, as if by reflex. Sam decided to hell with it, he'd carry Gabriel home - he couldn't get home by walking at this point. Even if he wanted to try, Sam wouldn't let him. He hooked the bags onto his shoulder and set out of school, legitimately just walking out. He had to get Gabe home as soon as he possibly could - if was pretty chilly, but Sam could manage and Gabe couldn't. He quickly whipped his shirt off and pulled up over Gabe to keep him warm.

Gabriel was shivering gently in Sam's arms, whimpering quietly even though he was still unconscious. He began to very slowly regain consciousness, clutching onto Sam's shirt and coughing.

"Sam?" he asked, voice breaking slightly as he gripped the shirt tightly, knuckles going white. Jesus this was awful, Sam was carrying him home. Fucking carrying him home. On the second day of their relationship. This was no going well.

Sam shushed him gently, holding him a little tighter and kissing him on his forehead again. "It's okay. You're sick, so I'm getting you home - you're safe, you're okay," he murmured similar phrases over and over into Gabe's ear. "Are you warm enough? You're shaking. I'll get you home as quick as I can," he kept saying things like that, he wouldn't stop talking, just hoping it would take Gabe's mind off of it all.

"Th-thank you." He mumbled. "I'm so sorry." He coughed softly and nuzzled into Sam. "I'm warm. I'm with you. I'm okay." He kept nearly coughing but being with Sam made him feel warm and safe and comfortable. "Are we nearly home?"

"Nearly there, it's alright. You don't have to be sorry for getting sick," Sam told him, with a little smile when Gabe snuggled up to him. "I'll be here to look after you. I mean, you'll have to tell me where stuff like medicine or hot water bottles and stuff are, but I will look after you," Sam told his boyfriend determinedly. He turned another corner and they were on Gabe's street, and Sam sighed in relief, walking a little bit faster to get to Gabe's house just a bit quicker. He pushed the door open - already unlocked - and immediately went into Gabriel's room, laying him down on his bed, so that he could choose how many blankets he wanted over him.

Gabriel reached out, grabbing the golden one Sam bought him and a plaid one that reminded him of Sam. "Sam I just wanna cuddle." He whined, reaching out for Sam.

Sam tutted at Gabe, shaking his head. "You can have cuddled later. First, you've gotta tell me where you keep your medicine and where the nearest water bottle is. And the nearest hot chocolate," he added, as an afterthought. If he was going to look after Gabe, he was going to do it right.

"I don't have any. There's hot chocolate in the kitchen but that's about it. Sam I don’t want a drink I just want to cuddle with you and sleep." He pouted up at Sam. He didn't have any medication or anything because he never needed it. Whenever he was sick he'd go see Cas, Cas always had medication. Gabe didn't need hot water bottles, he had enough blankets to keep him warm.

Sam stared very hard at Gabriel, and nodded slowly. "Right. Where's the nearest store, you need some kind of medicine, where do you usually get medicine from?" he asked - he was not going to give Gabe what he wanted until Gabe was sufficiently taken care of. It was incredibly important that Gabriel was safe, warm, comfortable, and healthy, or at least feeling okay.

Gabriel pouted and sat down, head spinning. "I don't buy medicine Sam. When I get sick I go see Cas, and even then I don't get sick often. When I'm this ill, usually, I just lay in bed and wait till I get better." He looked up at Sam, eyes wide and watering. He never had medicine as a kid, why would he have it now he lived alone? His dad had a theory that only the weak kids had medicine, and he wanted his sons to be stronger, therefore he would never even give them cough medicines, meaning when he was young he would sometimes cough himself to sleep with the metallic taste of blood from his raw throat in his mouth.

Sam bit his lip worriedly. "God, Gabe, you have to look after yourself better," Sam sighed, finally succumbing and rolling onto the bed with Gabe, peppering his face with chaste kisses and wrapping his arms around him. "I just want you to be comfortable and to be feeling alright," Sam muttered to him, running his fingers through Gabe's hair soothingly. He cast a thought to Cas, thinking that maybe he should call Gabe's brother to bring some medicine over or something similar, but thought better of it - besides, he didn't have Cas' number. He sighed, his front teeth worrying his bottom lip.

He snuggled into Sam's arms, making small purring noises as he did. He closed his eyes, feeling himself begin to drift off to sleep as he was nested in Sam's arms. "I'll be okay Sam, I'm always fine." he nuzzled into his chest, trying to slow his breathing done. He wasn't a huge fan of being looked after, it made him feel weak. It'd been ingrained in his head weak was bad.

"You're allowed to be looked after, you know," Sam murmured, with a sigh. "I want to look after you, when you need me. I love you," Sam told him, stroking his hair rhythmically, trying to help Gabe fall asleep. Doubtless Charlie was texted him non-stop - thank god he'd muted his phone - and he'd wait until Gabe drifted off fully to answer her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like it love it hate it rate it, come tell us!  
> Abbie: synergysam  
> Itch: synergygabriel / whodoesntlovesabriel


	9. The Truth Hurts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel tells Sam some stuff about him and his past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //WARNING// mention of self-harm and parental abuse  
> If you don't read this chapter the tl;dr is in the END notes

When Gabriel finally did so, his breath steadying, Sam got his phone out and checked.

> _Mind explaining yourself??_

> _Cutting class with your boyfriend, are we?_

> _No, seriously. We're worried. Text back when you can_.

Sam smiled at the messages and set to texting.

 _We're fine. Gabe's really sick and I took him home, and I'm trying to look after him even though he won't let me_.  <

> _Alright. Look after him well, nerd_

 _You think I'm not trying_?  <

Gabriel was sleeping in Sam's arms perfectly comfortably. He loved the feeling of Sam stroking his hair. As he was asleep, he started to have nightmares. It was dark, very dark, causing him to twitch a bit. His Dad materialised out of nowhere, shouting and screaming at him, his voice getting louder and louder and more and more condescending with each sentence. The nausea built up inside him with everything his Dad said, and with every word he felt pain slice through him. He'd disappointed them, his family, everyone.

Sam was almost asleep himself when he felt Gabriel twitching. He scooted away slightly to get a glimpse of his boyfriend's face, only to find it contorted in pain. He bit his lip at that.

"Gabe? Gabriel? Gabriel, I'm here," Sam whispered, shaking his shoulder a little to try and wake him up. "Its okay, Gabe. Gabe," he repeated again, right in his ear.

He began to shake, dream dad advancing on him. Gabriel had nowhere to run nowhere to hide he couldn't escape. All he could see was his father’s fist raising, before feeling pain shoot through him. His memories were replaying and he was having to relive it all again. "Please..." he groaned "stop..." Gabriel woke up with a start, breathing heavily, tears rolling down his face. It took him a minute to realise what was going on, and how he'd been woken up from his nightmare instead of sleeping through it.

Sam's eyes widened at that, shaking his boyfriend just a bit harder in an attempt to wake him, raising his voice a bit to try to force him into wakefulness. "Gabe! Gabe, wake up!" Sam spoke at normal volume into his ear. "It's not real, wake up," he continued.

"S-Sam?" He stammered reaching out and running his hands through Sam's hair, grounding himself. "I-I'm okay. You're okay too yeah?" He stroked Sam's cheek softly, checking and double checking. He was cursing himself, wishing he could be his normal self again.

"That isn't the point," Sam told him, holding Gabriel close to his chest and running his fingers through his hair, gently enough for it to not pull. "D'you want to talk about the nightmare? You can, if you'd like. Or you can just go back to sleep," he offered gently. "It's your choice. Whatever makes you comfortable," he murmured, kissing the top of his head.

He sat up, rubbing his face wiping the tears away. "It was my Dad. He was an abusive piece of shit, threw my brother Luci out, completely ignored Cas and doted over Michael and Raphael. Me? I was just ignored until Dad would try and take swings at Cas. I wouldn't let the dick touch my baby brother, so I jumped in front, took all the beatings for him." he shoved his sleeves up, showing Sam an array of scars. "Cigarettes, his favourite way of getting me in line." Gabriel just shrugged it off and reached into his dresser, pulling out a lemon flavoured lollipop and popping it into his mouth. "Got used to it in the end."

Sam felt his eyes water when he looked at those burns. How could a father do that to a kid? Sure, his dad was prone to neglect and leaving his kids alone, but he'd never gone as far as to burn one of his kids! Sam felt himself start shaking, he was go disgusted. "I -" Sam muttered, cutting himself off when his voice shook. "Gabe, you shouldn't - you - you should never have had to get used to that," Sam hissed, absolutely disgusted. He held Gabriel as close as possible, seething with anger.

Gabriel leant into Sam, feeling his heat seep into Gabriel. This was nice, having someone there to keep him safe from his nightmares.

"It's fine Sam, really. At least it is now. I got away from him, and I got friends too." He grinned up at Sam, trying to put on a brave face. He didn't want Sam to worry, he wanted Sam to believe he was okay. He could look after himself, he always had done since he ran away from his Dad. "Trust me Sammy, I'll be okay." He nuzzled into Sam's jaw bone and purred happily.

Sam growled, wrapping his arms around Gabriel protectively. "I did wonder why you ran away," he muttered. He was still so angry, practically ready to go find Gabriel's dad and teach him a damn lesson or two. "Now I get it. I'm so -" Sam's voice broke in the middle of the sentence, unable to continue easily. "I can't believe anybody could let that happen to you and Cas. I can't - I don't - I -" Sam stopped talking, unable to form a new sentence. Hot tears were leaking from his eyes without his permission.

He looked up at Sam shocked and wiped his cheeks.

"Hey, c'mon Sammy don't cry." he kissed his cheeks softly. "Seriously baby I'm okay." He stroked Sam's face. He wasn't used to people acting this sympathetic after everything his Dad had done to him, even though it wasn't like he told loads of people. He kind of just took it in his stride and accepted it like it was something everyone had to deal with. "You don't need to sorry for the shit Dad did okay?"

Sam shook his head, mad beyond belief. "I'm not sorry, I'm pissed," Sam told him, eyes trained on the scars rather than Gabe, before meeting his eyes and kissing him hard, crushing his lips against Gabe's for a few moments before pulling back and just holding him close, running his fingers through his golden hair again. "D'you still want to sleep?" He asked - he didn't mind what Gabriel wanted, as long as he felt safe.

"Not anymore. Dad nightmares are the ones that keep me awake for the next three weeks." he chuckled and cuddled closer to Sam. "So, Sammy, is there anything you would like to know about your best friend come boyfriend?" He leant backwards into Sam's shoulder, quietly licking the lollipop that he'd been playing with whilst discussing with Sam. "Anything you want, I don't mind."

Sam thought for a second, wondering what he might want to know. He hummed, thinking. "Well, I wouldn't mind knowing simple things. Favourite colour, favourite animal - favourite anythings," Sam mused, with a nod. The simple things were just as important as the big things in a relationship, and Sam thought it was important to know them. Anything to get his mind off of what he'd just been told.

"Well my favourite colour is a golden orange, like the blanket you bought me, but I also love dark red, like the colour of that plaid you wear a lot. My favourite animal hm... I love otters and red pandas." he softly kissed Sam and rubbed his arms, trying to comfort himself. Something told him he shouldn't have told Sam about his dad, and even if he had done he should tell Sam about the other scars on him, maybe at a later date. He ran his fingers through Sam's hair and grinned. "What's your favourite colour, animal, and person?"

Sam grinned, leaning into Gabe's hand. "My favourite colour is a weird shade of amber that kinda reminds me of your eyes, my favourite animal is a - huh. Haven't really thought about that one. Maybe a squirrel. Or a moose? Whatever, something like that," Sam nodded at him, with a smile. "Oh, and my favourite person? Well, I'd have to think about that," Sam joked, kissing him on his temple. "I'd have to go with you, although Dean is a very, very close second."

"Are you sure Dean isn't your favourite person? I'm a bundle of sweets, scars and daddy issues." He joked, leaning into Sam. "And really, your favourite colour a colour that reminds you of me? You're so gone for me." he laughed and closed his eyes. He liked the fact Sam was so gone for him. Finally, someone actually gave a shit

"Aah, maybe you're equal, but that's as far as I'm going," Sam grinned, pressing another kiss to Gabe's temple - he was visually calming down, but mentally? Sam had his doubts. "Yeah, I'm gone for you. I'm so, so gone for you. I'll make sure you're safe from now on, yeah?" Sam told him, kissing him again.

"Yeah." He leant into Sam and smiled. "Hey Sam, can I show you something?" he asked, rubbing his arms roughly. He didn't want to show Sam the scars he'd caused himself, he really didn't, but he knew that he had to if he wanted this relationship to work. His eyes were glittering as they usually do, making him seem happier than he was

"Sure! Anything," Sam told him, trying to sound as reassuring as possible. He had no idea what was about to come - the whole atmosphere of the room felt off, Gabe's smile seemed fake and wrong. A feeling of concern rushed through him, but he tried not to show it. He was pretty good at showing he wasn't concerned - well practiced because Dean was so worried all the time, but he hated when Sam was worried too. Usually when Dad was gone too long. Off topic, he thought, focusing on Gabe.

He moved his hands and held his arms up to the light, letting the light bounce off his pale skin. Along his arms were thin white scars in perfect straight lines. When he knew that Sam had seen them properly, he put his arms down and burrowed into the blankets away from Sam. This was it, Sam was going to leave him. He couldn't look after himself, he would destroy himself outside in. He felt his eyes prick with tears.

Sam stared for just a second before Gabriel pulled his arms away, but it was plenty of time to take in what Gabe had showed him. He shook his head, tears finding their way into his eyes again, and pulled Gabe back out of the blankets - he was so light, it was hardly a feat of strength - and brought Gabe's arm to his lips, kissing each one as if it could make the scars disappear. "I - it’s okay, Gabe. It's okay, I love you, I love you, it’s okay. Have you stopped? It's okay, it is," Sam kept saying phrases like this in between light kisses. Once he'd finished kissing each arm, he peppered Gabe's face with feather-light kisses, reassuring him that he was here, that he was going to stay, that he wasn't going anywhere. He was sure that was what Gabe was thinking - at some point, the tears must've started flowing again. He was sick of those tears telling Gabe how upset he was, rather than telling him that it wasn't his fault.

Tears rolled down his cheeks and he sniffed like a child. "I'm sorry. I haven't done it in a few weeks, remember that week I wouldn't take off my hoodie? Yeah." He reached up and softly wiped Sam's tears away, returning the kisses on his face. “I love you too Sammy I love you so much I'm sorry you're putting up with me," he chucked, trying to make light of the situation. He ran his hands through Sam's hair, trying to get closer to him

"You don't need to be sorry for this. I'm not 'putting up' with you. I'm here because I want to be," Sam told his boyfriend firmly, completely against any idea that Gabe wasn't worth his time. He was. He so, so was. "Everybody has bad times, and some of yours have been awful. I want to do what I can for you, and I'd give anything for you to just - to just be happy," Sam finished, his voice breaking slightly again. Damn his tears, ruining his sentences. "I must sound like a - like an idiot, all this crying and still talking about protecting you," he smiled a watery smile, holding Gabe in his arms again. "I just promise I'll do everything I can." If he ever were to keep a promise in his life, it was that one. _Sure, I won't worry, Dean, promise. Oh, those kids are just joking about, promise. You don't need to be there, Dean, promise, promise, promise._

No, he intended to keep a promise for once in his life.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tl;dr for those who are triggered: Gabriel self harms and his Dad was an abusive fuckard


	10. Sabriel Matchmaker is Now In Service

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas acts on his dare!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~!~ WARNING ~!~ Explicit mention of abuse from parent -> son

  “Come on in, it's open!" He called in a sing song voice and Dean walked in, dressed a neat plaid shirt, the smartest jeans he owned and his hair actually looked brushed for once. Damn, he'd made an effort.

 "Sup, you feeling better Ga-"

 "I have a crush on you, would you go on a date with me?" Cas said suddenly, staring right at Dean. Gabe and Sam sat there between them stunned. Well, at least it's over now right?

Sam had to forcefully hold back a bark of laughter at the look on Dean's face. He had never seen that much shock on his face before.

 "I - wh - wait, wha - wh - me?" he asked incredulously, eyes wide. Cas nodded.

 "I'm hardly talking to Sam, Dean," Cas told him.

 "But - wait - I'm," Dean was obviously trying to process what he'd just been asked and was failing miserably.

 "I'm sorry, Dean, I would understand if you -"

 "No! No, no, Cas," Dean cut across, his voice filled with desperation. "I'd love to go out on a date with you. I was - planning - to ask you that, a little later," Dean confessed. Sam grinned.

 "Nerd," he yelled at his older brother, who glared right back at him.

 "You can't call me a nerd. That makes you a hypocrite, bitch," Dean quipped back.

 "Jerk."

Gabriel grinned and clapped. " Ah ha, I knew you two would make the cutest couple! Sabriel Matchmaker Service is officially in business." He high fived Sam before shuffling round on the sofa to lay with his head in Sam's lap. Sure he was sick, but he didn't care right now, he was with Sam and his baby brother was happy and Dean were _going_ to happy, he was looking after everyone like he should be, and it was great.  "Hey guys, can we take a group picture?" He asked suddenly. "I want to show Lucifer." He looked up at Sam, hoping he'd say it was okay.

Sam grinned. "Yeah. Show him you do life a hundred times better than him," he laughed - and Dean laughed at that too. He looked a little delirious at that point, as if he were going to faint or something similar. Instead, he just grabbed Cas' hand, and immediate blush rising to his face, and dragged him over for the picture. Sam smirked at that, and snuggled close to Gabriel, wondering if they'd sit down or stand for the picture.

Gabriel grabbed his phone and held it up for all four of them were in the picture, and he snapped it, all four of them grinning. He sent the picture to Lucifer, just with the caption of "I'm having fun too." He then took a second photo of just he and Sam, this time with him kissing Sam's cheek and the caption "Btw I have a boyfriend now." He grinned as it showed Lucifer had seen the messages, and a response of 'I dare you to show Dad' with a winky face afterwards. "Luci seems to approve."

Sam grinned. "Sweet! Now all the family members that matter approve - Balthazar approves, right?" Sam asked, his front teeth worrying his bottom lip suddenly. It was shockingly important to him that Gabriel's brothers approved of the relationship - he wanted to be on good terms with the people who mattered to Gabriel, and he definitely didn't want to get in the way of his relationship with his brothers.

It took Dean a moment to realise he was still holding Cas' hand, but he didn't have the strength in him to take his hand away.

Gabriel tapped on his phone and sent Balthy the pictures as well, who responded with a photo of himself with a martini glass saying "Good for you Gabey." He grinned and laughed at the photo.

"Yeah, all my family who matters approves. Cas, Luci and Balthazar. Jesus we had weird names." He thought for a second before bursting out laughing at the ridiculousness of their names. Gabriel leant forward, gently kissing Sam, trying to get him to stop worrying that damn lip. Did Sam know how damn attractive he was when he did that?

Sam kissed back for a second before withdrawing, grinning like an idiot. "All I know is that Sam is the  most normal name imaginable, and Dean was named after a woman," Sam informed his boyfriend, and his brother's crush - boyfriend? - crush, with a mischievous smirk.

 "Hey! Grandma Deanna was a handsome lady!" Dean joked back, not really minding anymore.

  "We were all named after angels. Castiel, the angel of Thursday, me the Messenger of the Lord, Lucifer the Fallen Angel and Balthazar... I don't know." He grinned and cuddled into Sam's side, making room for the two new lovebirds on the sofa. "So guys, what shall we do seeing as I am sick, Sam here can't go back to school without having a hernia from the worry, Dean-o has nothing else to do and Cas here wants to stay with Dean."

Sam thought for a few seconds before answering. "I don't know if you two want to go out somewhere? I can look after Gabe, now that we have medicine, thanks to you, Cas," he nodded at Castiel with a smile and a sideways glare at Gabriel for not having medicine to look after himself with. “So if you guys wanna head out or something, that's cool with us, right?" He asked Gabriel his opinion on the matter.

 "Sam I don't usually need medicine! I haven't been this sick in years."

 "Yes, we'll go out and grab some lunch." Dean held onto Cas' hand and practically dragged him from the apartment as Sam and Gabe lay on the sofa. Gabe watched them leave and whispered as he did.

 "Damn man Cas is growing up way too fast. I remember when he'd come in my room with my teddy bear crying because he'd been woken up by Dad yelling at Luci so I let him cuddle with me to fall asleep." He looked wistful, remembering the times when he'd curled up around Cas in his powder blue onesie and that damn teddy bear, hands over Cas' ears as his Dad woke up the neighbours screaming because Lucifer had come home late.

Sam let out a shuddering sigh himself. "I remember when I was little enough for that. We were lonely kids, me and Dean, and Dad could be the best, but he could also be the absolute worst," Sam reminisced on those nights where he'd listened to dad and Dean argue - usually about Sam and his future - and he'd sometimes hear a smacking noise he would dream of forgetting. "But Dean was always the best. I'm glad he's happier now," or has happier times to come, he added on the end in his head. Maybe not yet, but soon. Sam smiled a little at the thought.

 "My dad never stopped be a dick. When Cas was five he broke a glass trying to put it in the sink and Dad saw red, tried to throw the glass as a punishment. _At_ Cas. I yelled at Dad, I was like, telling him it wasn't Cas' fault and it was an accident, 'cause he was only a kid y'know? Dad gave me a choice... Cas, or me. And I uh- chose me. " He leant closer to Sam as he recounted memories like that. It didn't make him sad now, hell it made him feel proud, remembering all the shit he'd gone through, all the times he'd protected Cas, and how he was still here.

Sam winced, hugging Gabriel tight. Glass. And Cas had been _five_ years old. And apparently, that was a suitable punishment. Gabriel had been _eight_. Sam clenched his fists so tight his knuckles turned white. "I want to rip your dad to shreds," Sam hissed, through gritted teeth. "I thought my dad was bad, and my nightmares are awful, and I hate that you had to deal with that piece of absolute shit," he spat the words as if they were poison to him, and they were. "You guys were too young, and you had to go through that for too long. Way, way too long," Sam shook his head, letting his hair hide his face, which was showing all the white-hot rage he was feeling.

Gabriel rolled slightly and moved his hands to Sam's face, gently brushing his hair from his face.

"Hey, Sammy, it's okay. Honest, I'm away from his now." He smiled gently and leant in, giving him some soft gentle kisses. "It's okay babe, honestly." He nuzzled into Sam's neck, settling his face on Sam's neck. "I'm safe now, with you." he pressed his face into Sam's neck, peppering the soft skin with kisses.

**Author's Note:**

> THANK YOU A LOT FOR READING AND I (ITCH) AND GONNA TRY AND UPDATE AT LEAST TWICE A WEEK
> 
> Come talk to us on tumblr!!  
> > Abbie: synergysam  
> > Itch: synergygabriel / whodoesntlovesabriel


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